It's a Beautiful Sky on a Beautiful Day

I don't have much to report today. I had some friends visit last weekend, which was a lot of fun. Greta brought a couple of her friends from Poitiers, and it was great to meet them, and to get the chance to show them around. I really feel like I'm getting the hang of this city when I can show people around.

And Chris successfully graduated from Basic Combat Training on Friday. We got to talk on the phone for about 20 minutes yesterday, which was really nice. I've gotten to talk to a couple of other people from home as well, which has also been nice. I'm really enjoying it here, but I do miss everyone, and I'm looking forward to seeing them all in around a month or so.

And today is Palm Sunday. I didn't make it to a church service or anything, but after I woke up and showered and dressed and all that, I noticed that it was an absolutely beautiful day outside, with a wide blue sky and a few puffy white clouds, and it was already 50ºF, so I had a nice little meditation by myself out on the balcony. As I read in Luke about Jesus's journey to Jerusalem, and how the crowd was shouting about all the wonderful things they'd seen, I thought about the wonderful things God's done for me.

There are miracles I've seen long ago, like strangers stopping to pray with each other, and out-of-control vehicles somehow landing in the only safe place on the entire hill. There are small things like songs coming up out of nowhere saying exactly what I need to hear, and friends calling at just the right moment.

I thought about how so many little things happen and disappear, but leave an impact and bring us to where we are, and end up being really important for reasons we could never forsee, like all of the reasons that got so many of us here at Regent's at the point in particular. If a few small things had worked out differently, I wouldn't have met the people I have met, and would not be having the same experience at all.

"If these were quiet, the stones would cry out!" It's a wonder the stones don't cry out more often. I don't think we acknowledge daily miracles enough. Maybe that's why birds sing so much. They sing because we don't, and singing stones would draw a lot more attention (and probably make people uncomfortable with the strangeness).

I wish I could enjoy the sunshine longer, but I have to write a paper now, and the books I need have to stay in the library. Hopefully the sun will still be out when I finish...