Every once in a while, I'll get a word or a phrase stuck in my head -- much like how songs get stuck. Except in my case there's no tune, and just words.
I've had a part of Psalm 42 stuck in my head for a while now:
"... These are the things I go over and over,
emptying out the pockets of my life." (The Message)
The pockets of my life.
As I prepare to leave for college on the 24th, I'm gathering the things -- like clothes, hairdryer, lint roller, computer, sheets, etc. -- together that I'm anticipating I'll want with me while at school. I've had to discern what's important enough to pack and then subsequently lug across campus to my dorm room, and what isn't worth the energy it requires to move.
This summer has provided me ample opportunity to empty out my pockets, turn them inside out, pick through and go over what I've found there. I've got to discern what I'm going to put back into the pockets of my life.
Now is the time in which I have to decide what's worth keeping, what's worth carrying around despite the weight. I've got to figure out what experiences and hopes and relationships I'm going to carry along in my pockets for the next while.
Now is the time. No one told me it would be this hard. Or this good...
May the Lord bless you with circumstances that require you to turn out your pockets, and go over their contents; may God guide you as begin the journey of putting things back in.
If you take something out of your pockets, be sure to leave it in a safe place.
Someday you might want to put it back into your pocket again.
Signed,
39 years of experience
Posted by: Mark | August 17, 2007 at 08:45 AM
pack a pillow.. there is nothing better than a favorite pillow. &:~)
Posted by: gavin | August 17, 2007 at 02:27 PM
Natalie,
No one has quite expressed the feelings I have in departing for college so accurately as you. I'm feeling a little weepy as I writel this, as I am having more trouble than I ever imagined emptying my pockets. In some way, I guess I wish my pockets were a little bigger so that I could carry around the old and still have room for the new. But I am now realizing that it's time to do a little emptying of my own... and as I do, I get to reflect on what has been, and bask in the air of anticipation of what is yet to come.
Thank you for this marvelous insight into our common experience.
Posted by: Amanda Mae | August 17, 2007 at 07:41 PM
May I suggest five smooth stones?
(1 Samuel 17:40)
Posted by: Kevin | August 23, 2007 at 09:52 PM