The summer solstice.

2 Corinthians 4:15-18

 

15 All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God. 16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 17 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

Solstice is derived from the Latin words sol (sun) and sistere (to stand still).

The beauty of today is that I was able to fully enjoy the length of the LOOOONGNESS of the day all within the my first 10 hours of this Friday. Work.may.have.just.exhausted (!) me today. But days like that happen. But, then what happens as I drive home, is a million questions run through my head about just what am I doing with  y life, and why am I not in Africa, or Nepal, or wherever I'm really NEEDED. . . Where I wouldn't be worrying about finishing my charts to the degree Medicare requires, where people wouldn't be yelling at my nurses to call in prescriptions they ran out of and chose not do do anything about until 4:00 on Friday afternoon, and insurances wasting my time requiring precerts and prior authorizations on basic medical things you learn your first rotation in practicing medicine. I find myself dabbling in discontentment because I'm tired. And its beautiful. And when I go home, Charlie isn't going to cater to my needs or listen to my bad day. He's just going to want my attention to. Thank goodness I love him so much :) But that discontentment, thats a bad place to be. Because I forget the big picture.

But anyways. so I find my place under the sunshine, and I find myself at this verse. Go back up and read it again. So, I post to remind myself of this, over and over again. It's not about me. Or my exhaustion or joy. If I look for it, God is faithful in renewing me day to day. (And he knew that the longest day of the year would stretch just long enough to give me some sunshine time with my pup in the backyard under the warm sun after I felt quite exhausted!) And he knew that my heart would wander to those parts of the world where I remember the joy of serving people. Not insurance. Not pharmacies. But people.

Just a few moments...where just maybe time did stand still in my heart... :)

 

Thankful for this summer solstice.

And prayerfully thinking of my many dear friends all over the world serving "the least of these" And, very cognizantly aware of and thankful of all my patients in northeast Ohio. Really, I do love my job. For that, I'm quite thankful.

 

Happy Summer Solstice!