Some Thought from the Fall of 2007

New Hamburg, ON

Have you ever walked out of the movie theatre after watching a film you can’t decide if you loved or hated? The kind of movies you rate and recommend differently depending on who you are speaking to. That’s how I feel right now. People ask how my fall was, and some get the honest long-winded story, while to others I say “great” and smile. I think both express the challenge of describing big experiences in life.
Without any further the long-winded answer to “how was your fall semester?”.
I cannot describe this fall, my time on Outtatown and anything I did or experienced without alluding to the overall faithfulness of God. It was a colourful fall with things happening that we could have no way of preventing or preparing for ahead of time, but through it all God was faithfully present. At one point I read about the passage in John 15, when Jesus describes himself as the true vine. He says “remain in me, and I will remain in you”. There were times when I felt like that was all I could do, was do my best to cling to the God who promises to never let go. The job itself required more of me than I had to give; more wisdom, more patience, more preparation, more sleep, more security… yet through it all, I think all God was asking of me was faithfulness. “Remain in me Dana, and I will remain right here beside you”. I cannot say I always did a good job of that, but I tried.
I can also recognize significant areas of growth in me, personally. There were definately times of tiredness, after driving across the country, or two months without a two day period of rest most people would call “weekends”, or trying to mentor too many young women in a week. Last fall I would get tired and emotional and feel as if the world was falling apart, and feel somehow as if it was up to me to fix it. This fall I did a much better job at recognizing that when the world seems to be falling apart, I likely need to get a good night’s sleep. I figure that if the world is actually falling apart, I’ll either; sleep right through it, or wake up in the morning ready to try to help clean things up.
Again I cannot help but be amazed by the quality of people I get to rub shoulders with. From my fellow staff members are to our students, they all have been a joy to be around. Then there are countless instructors and friends from across the country that I was able to spend time with which was also very meaningful for me.
When I begin to write stories of God at work in people’s live around me, I do so only to realize there is no end. Or at least there is a very long list before I get to the end. And it’s these stories that make me love what I do and keep me going.
This was a heavy blog, I didn’t want to write it, but today my mom commented on the fact that she missed reading what I had to write this fall, so I’m attempting to overcome a bit of writer’s block.
And for now, that is all from me.