Hello, I am still here!

I live in a beautiful county in Northern Virginia. In the morning, I try to wake up before the sun comes out. I sit in my loft on a chair near my widow. I love gazing at the trees; it's so peaceful. Yet almost every morning, a loud sound takes my attention. Over time I learned to ignore it until one morning, the sound was so loud it seemed like someone connected a speaker to the sound source and placed it next to my ear. It went on for a while until it disappeared. I know what the sounds represent intellectually speaking; however, I connected with it emotionally in a way I hadn't before. 

I usually am pretty focused in the morning as I spend intentional time with God. I have a plan, so it's easy to stay focused and shut out all distractions. This morning God wanted me to learn something from the sound today. From the sound of sirens. 

As I mentioned, I hear it almost every morning, as early as 5:30am. This morning, however, I thought of the recipient that requires that sound to be activated. They probably did not expect to face what they were facing. Maybe they were on the way to work or back from work. Perhaps they ran a small errand to the pharmacy. My husband has often done so because someone woke up sick and needed some medicine. Maybe it was a fire that caused a tragedy and material damage as I experienced growing up. I don't know. But I can almost guarantee they did not say, "yay, I want to be the recipient of the sound of sirens coming to me with joy" most likely, the recipient was waiting with anxiousness, fear, or even desperation. 

As I heard the sirens, I thought to myself, today, I woke up; everyone in my home is safe. God has said you will be here because I have a purpose for you. If you are reading this, he is saying the same to you. He has more for us to do, people to encourage, lessons to learn, and then pass on, miracles to achieve, stuff to be part of, and so much. God doesn't tell us ahead of time what it will look like for us to be part of those things, like when I injured my foot and had to be in bed for three weeks. He just says, he wants us on this earth, and I know that because we woke up today. 

I can't understand why certain people die, why babies die shortly after being born, leaving mothers we are crushed and broken-hearted, why at times things can seem so unfair. I try not to spend too much time ruminating on things I will not have the answer to in my lifetime. Over the years, I have found that instead of investing in the things I can't understand, I focus on the things I can. 

So, I say to myself, after I have wept like a newborn baby, "My eyes are open, I am still in this world, let the new adventure begin and cry when you need to and laugh because laughter is good for the soul." 

"There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens…" Ecclesiastes 3:1 NVI