In the Making

Today I had a meeting 4 or more years in the making.  And I note how if had I sought out to create this meeting four years ago, it would not have been what it was specifically today.

In my own past, I've walked down the path of doctors and illness with family members.  When your loved one's life and quality of life swing in the balance, there seems to be a black hole that can suck all your attention, energy, and stamina into it's focus.  It takes so much of our own focus, prayer and a sense of community to help keep us from traveling to conclusions about the future.

Today, conversation flowed over coffee, as I reached out to three of my friends.  I met each of them in a special way over the last four years, and God has allowed our paths to cross, I feel, very purposefully.  Through each of their own journeys, I am seeing a common strand- strong women who are given a challenge.  Rather that wallow in self-pity over very serious and some life-threatening diagnoses, they are rising to the top of their game.  Not only are they engaging in their respective areas of cancer, rheumatoid arthritis or Friedrich's Ataxia, but they are reaching out through advocacy to empower the greater community with knowledge and support.

Four years ago, the stories of the three women I brought together today did not carry, for lack of a better term, the richness that they did this morning.  In the last 4 years, we all have had our own mountains and valleys to climb, and although the experiences were shared in an hour and a half's conversation, one could not synthetically create the passion or connection these women share.

Its a constant reminder that the richest experiences in my life, are not the ones I could foresee.  They are not the ones I could plan out.  Even given the partial picture I can see of what was accomplished this morning, I could not have orchestrated myself, my own experiences or perspective nor those brought to the table by my counterparts.

This morning's conversation reminded me also what it means to truly be.  To quit talking through the politics or hypotheticals of community building.  I want to partake in this morning's kinds of earth moving dialogues.  To bring people together who will be better for having known one another.  To build stronger and faster from eachother's stories to help more people.  To participate in this kind of "community building" I feel something substantial has been set in motion.  I hope to live each day like this- feeling that I am truly completing the work the Lord has laid out for me.  I am reminded that my future is in the making, entrusted to God for the valleys and mountains I must go through to have the most fully lived experience.  By investing fully in this granted moment, I live a fulfilled life.