Margin 101

Feb 16, 2010 (for all you Americans) :)

I’m sitting here working on my computer, which seems strange since the power is off. But none-the-less, I was inspired to pick up my laptop and type. I’m sitting in front of my house in a white plastic lawn-chair, reading a book called “Margin” by Richard A. Swenson. As I read, I’m reminded of the need we have for rest – physical, emotional, and Spiritual. (More to come on this later!) And I realize for the three-hundredth time that, if I look out, I can see the Indian Ocean. There are palm trees around me baking in the sun. Despite the heat, it’s relatively cooler in the shade of our front porch, and the wind is whistling by on the ocean breeze. Birds hover and call to one another in the trees, and I hear voices in Swahili passing by on the other side of our cement compound wall. Our neighbors sit out reading, then talk to their (new) dogs reassuring them everything is ok. There is traffic on the other side of my house, on the main road, but thanks to the lack of power, no radios blast from the neighborhood bar.

I’m trying to think of what I should be doing right now, and though I’m sure there is something, nothing much seems important. Not enough, anyway, to cancel out this moment of peace and solitude. True, nothing is quite as easy here, and the heat sure is oppressive. But somehow, in the midst of everything, I’m starting to find a bit of balance. Maybe, slowly, God is teaching me to let go of my worries, one thing at a time.

It’s a slow process, to be sure. But in the end, I’m glad it’s a process that is in God’s hands!