Leaving

I did recently realize that I have been unfairly using my blog to post things about which I am angry, which makes me sound as if I am bitter and grouchy. The truth is, I am not. I am fairly content with life and other such circumstances. Just wanted to clear that up.

I always pick up Donald Miller's Through Painted Deserts when I know I'm beginning to be especially materialistic. He tells about his journey from Texas to Oregon in an old VW van that dies most of the time. While reading, a section of this stood out to me, because this is where I live.

"So soon you will be in that part of the book where you are holding the bulk of the pages in your left hand, and only a thin wisp of the story in your right. You will know by the page count, not by the narrative, that the Author is wrapping things up...

"And so my prayer is that your story will have involved some leaving and some coming home, some summer and some winter, some roses blooming out like children in a play. My hope is your story will be about changing... about moving yourself around water, around mountains, around friends, about learning to love others more than we love ourselves, about learning oneness as a way of understanding God. We get one story, you and I, and one story alone. God has established the elements, the setting and the climax and the resolution. It would be a crime not to venture out, wouldn't it?

"It might be time for you to go. It might be time to change, to shine out.

"I want to repeat one word for you:

"Leave."