Maintenance

Making the transition from college life to "real life" is sometimes a little jolting. I don't know how much time this is supposed to take but I'm about to mark four years and I'm still working on it! (Perhaps it's a lifetime pursuit like leaving childishness behind? ;) 

College is a crazy time:  every day is a different schedule, life is full of random people and personalities from day-to-day and every time you turn around someone is slapping you on the back telling you that you're going to "change the world". Tests are finite. Seasons have definite "ending" dates. Possibilities are endless. And the future is the stuff of dreams. 

Then....

You graduate. 

Which is fabulous! 

You land a job (even better)! Move into your own place. And life, as the rest of the world has known it for quite a while, ensues. Bills come regularly. Things break down occasionally. Monday comes every seven days without fail. And summer? Fuggetabowdit. 

It feels sometimes like "changing the world" has been replaced with "change over the laundry, change the air conditioning filter and get an oil change." Mix in a few "life-changing" moments with God, conversations with loved ones and ideas birthed in our hearts and...there you have it. Life! 

I found myself a few months ago sounding like the old, wise man, "meaningless, meaningless, everything is meaningless." I was thinking things like, "I'm going to dust this and it will need dusting again in two days. I'm going to take out the trash just for it to refill. I'm going to pay these bills and they'll come again in a few weeks." And the it felt like the Lord shook me by the shoulders to help me understand:  if I refuse to enjoy the everyday, the maintenance, I will be miserable most days. 

God's word reminds us that "Godliness with contentment is great gain."  There is much to be gained through reveling in the SMTWTFS stuff. Don't let the disillusionment of changing seasons or passing years rob you of the excitement and joy of what God is doing in your everyday! 

As my favorite poet, Sara Groves, puts it:  "It's the everyday miracles that keep my hope alive. It's the way You move in little ways that helps me survive."

So, while much of life is just maintenance. So much more of life is filled with everyday miracles. And it's wonderful.