Unexpected solitude

Aaaah, the joy of a summer evening and limitless runs through the sprinkler. It is those shrieks of cool pleasure as the stream of water cascades over their warm bodies that make me smile. Yet, there are other emotions that vie for my attention as I sit on the patio with my computer watching my angels fight a make-believe battle against the lava monster. I feel frustration that this blog has remained vastly voiceless for these months. Time passes, events happen, and somewhere along the way, the journey becomes so involved that I don’t know where to be begin, so I don’t write anything. My pen is silent.

Tonight, I feel a strange mixture of relief and sadness. Another team has arrived and the girls and I planned on being with them as they traveled to Razgrad. Their plane was delayed and the 5 hour journey by bus pushed back a full 24 hours. Other events later this week made it rather unfeasible to go today, only to journey another 5 hours back to Sofia on Friday. So, I hear a melancholy voice in my ear tonight – wishing to be in Razgrad and yet, on another level, reveling in the fact that the only voices I hear in our home tonight are our own. We have had constant guests since May 14th.

Summers for our missionary family are filled to overflowing with people, teams, ministry, and activity. It is an endless rotation of exhaustion and joy, much like the rotation of that sprinkler that draws shrieks of delight from the hearts of my girls. From my melancholy moment of relative solitude tonight, I find that though I have so much that should be said, perhaps it is enough today to have simply dipped my pen into the ink of this moment and discovered joy.