The new calendar hands me a snazzy empty grid to fill with
life. Is it opportunity, or is it intimidating?
I begin to plan for the new year; I pick out meaningful
things from the endless list of opportunities and drop them onto that handy
sectioned cardstock. But the word meaningful catches me. Meaningful. It’s used
so often to describe the old year that I feel it’s a mandate: Find thou
something meaningful in this year!
I can’t.
I’m not going to look back and point to 2012 and tell you
that my character took great strides, and that I
gained a sense of direction.
It wasn't like that.
My definition of meaningful changed.
In June I went to New York City with my choir. I would
describe it to you in the varying hues of the markets we visited, or the
audiences we sang for, or the places we ate. But all that comes to mind is “We
had so much fun!” It was a pleasurable and empty trip. We went. We sang. We
came home.
In September I went to Colorado with Katie. I won’t try to
describe it to you. I can only try to clarify the meaning it taught me.
There was fellowship.
There is a fellowship in a choir, just as there is a fellowship in God. But a
choir needs a purpose. God is
purpose. And to fellowship in Christ then, is meaningful as nothing else can
be.
Things came of this fellowship. Study. We came together every morning, afternoon and evening for
lectures. We studied the solidness of the truths of God. Desire to study. We
took notes, bought books, took time to meditate and pray about what we learned.
Close fellowship. We were divided
into small groups to pray for, lean on and support each other. Joy. Maybe we just looked like another
group of volleyball players at the park, but our smiles didn't end with our
physical exertion. We served joyfully – taking plates after meals or helping
Mat with his sprained ankle. We took joy in learning, in praising, in prayer,
in fellowship and in sleep. More
fellowship. We now worship together by posting verses on Facebook. We study
by posting and responding to articles and listening to the wise voices of our new
friends.
In June I came back from New York with the choir exhausted,
ready to sleep.
In September I came back from back from Colorado with Katie;
Katie-bug; My Katie, exhausted and eager to fellowship.
That gridded wall hanging beckons me again. I smile.
Opportunity.
For Meaning.
