Another late night yesterday so I'm not nearly as refreshed as I had hoped to be today. However, I'm blessed to have a great imagination and an even better memory so I've pulled back into the archives and brought forth a time when I was truly at rest to get me through the day.
While Steve was in Iraq I went to visit my friend Sandra in Tennessee. She has the dubious honor of longest friendship (we met in a junior high girls Sunday school class and I have loved and respected her ever since). She allowed me a reprieve from life during that time and I am forever grateful she did. On the Sunday night I was there she had a prior engagement with a friend so I got to hang out in her quaint southern home, free to be or do whatever I wanted.
It was a chilly October day so I sat down in her over-sized chair and ottoman positioned in front of the fireplace with a blanket, book, Bible, journal, my thoughts, and a roaring fire. I read a while, wrote some, then stared outside at the gray evening or into the fireplace, then back to book, and so on. I got out from under the blanket only long enough to put another log on the fire and then snuggled up again to resume my aforementioned activities. It was incredible. It was one of those times when my soul was completely rested and in the midst of a very difficult, strange time in my life, I was at peace. I literally had nothing else to do but what I was doing and I could have done absolutely nothing had I chosen to do so.
No house to clean, no dog to look after, no meal to cook, no laundry to wash, no work duties to perform, and nowhere else to be. I don't recall ever experiencing such freedom before and while I've not been able to replicate it since, I certainly long for it. Perhaps that's why the memory is so special - it is unique. The timing, location, and circumstances of my life were all unique to that day, that moment. I seized the opportunity and lived completely in that moment alone. Even recalling it gives me an overwhelming sense of contentment.
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