God spoke something so fresh to me on Saturday.  It happened while I was up at Mount Washington .  I was sitting on the chair slowly climbing up to the top of the mountain when it began to snow.  Earlier that morning the sun had peeked it's welcome face out from behind the clouds, and I thought for a moment that we may get 'the perfect day'!  (You have to see life from the top of Mount Washington on a sunny day, it's truly awe inspiring.)  The view, the warmth, the soft snow… I'm sure I was surrounded by people who joined me, cheering on the sun as it fought to break through.  It didn't happen.

A half hour later it was obvious that the clouds had won the battle.  Visibility would be low, the snow would cut our faces as we rode, and the combination of fog and precipitation would keep us colder that anyone had hoped.  It was as I sat on that snow blown chair that it hit me… I'm loving this!  I was overcome with the realization that though the day was not as perfect as I would have liked, it beat the alternative of not being there at all.  Sure, it wasn't sunny and warm, but I was sitting 30 feet off of a mountain with a board strapped to my feet.  The simple fact is I was excited to be there even though the day wasn't 'perfect'.

Often life is not as we had dreamed, planned, purposed, and believed it would be.  I'm sure many of you, like me, have had days when this is shockingly obvious.  I guess I'm learning that life comes in all shapes and sizes.  Sorrow is as much a part of it as joy,  satisfaction as disappointment, Wonder and mystery as knowing and reason.  When and where we began to believe that life is meant to be a 'perfect day' is not known to me.  In fact, I wonder who could with integrity teach that lesson to a child or a friend.  I am seeing that the greater truth lies in the invitation to "live life to the full" JN 10.10.  It is when we embrace all that life is with honesty and integrity, that we find joy, peace, patience, contentment, freedom, rest… and many other things that come only as we allow Christ to walk us through the reality of life as we live it.