November News

Here I am sitting in a coffee shop (with a Decaf Mocha Latte for those of you who are curious.)  And I am forcing "inspiration."  There are times when a writer thinks "I should write about . . .", and there are other times when a writer decides it is high time that she should have wanted to write about something.
Life here in Paris is normal.  Nothing shocking or new-which may make my title for this post seem a bit shocking.  But a lack of change does not negate the little bits of news that make life bright and enjoyable. 
A few weeks ago I went on a neighborhood walk with Mom and Samuel, and as we were walking, we passed a wonderful little niche in the world-not touched with the normal busyness of traffic; only touched by the activity of those who live there because they enjoy the sense of being tucked away in an unknown bend in the road.  It is sometimes in those little "corners" of the world where you find extraordinary secret gifts from God-which was the case for me on that beautiful late summer's afternoon.  In the front yard of one of the tucked away homes was a tree.  But this tree was not like most other trees which reach straight for the heavens.  It was slanting so closely to the ground I was surprised it was even able to stand.  Although I am not a forester, my imagination said that it probably had some sort of tree trauma in its youth, but lived through it.  From there, it had eventually grown so tall that it could reach above the roof of the home-towards the morning light. 
(I wanted to try not to be so "didactic" in this blog, but it seems I cannot escape it-so please bear with me, as I appear to be didactic in nature.  It is the ingrained teacher in me-always wanting to escape.)

Back to the tree:  one of my first thoughts when I saw the tree was how my impression of the tree's "history" could be applied in our lives.  Throughout each of our lives we encounter some sort of trauma, of various and sundry intensities.  But through all of these, from the greatest to the least, we need one response-to reach towards The Light.  The One, True Light of the World-the Saviour Jesus Christ.  Our trauma may manifest itself in some ways to those around us to the end of our lives, but even in it, we should point others the The Light.  And as I love my special tree on Abbott Lane more than any other in the neighborhood, in the same manner, others may love us even more for who the Lord has made us through all the circumstances in our lives. 

John 8:12

"Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, 'I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.'" NASB