...and I cried...

For those of you who know me well, you know that I am not generally an emotional woman. So a friend dropped by yesterday at lunchtime to borrow a DVD for her class. And we chatted. She was asking me how we were doing with the move and things. And I shared simply.


She began to tell me about when her family left Africa and thought they were returning in a year. In the year that they were absent there was an evacuation from the country they were living in and they never returned. I started to say that I had hoped that I could say we would return in a year or two, but I feel like God is asking me to give up even that...


...and I suddenly was so overcome with a sense of loss that I couldn't recover and I wept.

I know that I am a bit out of touch with the emotional side of me...but it surprised me to be so undone.

I suppose part of my grief is due to very sad news I got that morning from a friend. It's the kind of news that shares part of the death of a dream...

In the last few years, B and I have often mused that part of the challenge of living in community is the shared griefs of the people. When your life rubs often against others you can't help but share in their experience...whether it is joys or sorrows.