Isaacing

Hello folks! Sorry for my black hole-esk sort of communication style this past month. Albeit I could come up with better excuses (in the format of tall tales), such as Mojo and Godzilla teamed up to complete the ultimate mini-monster duo and ate my computer (For knowledge of Mojo and Godzilla see previous post), quite simply I was busy.

Well, in lieu of anything witty or inspirational to write, I will instead tell you to pull up a chair and enjoy the mundane:

I have discovered that being “happy” in the midst of change and the foreign is a greater chore than I had anticipated. Let’s face it, being “happy” takes WORK.

On any given day I wake up to the sounds of the campus kitchen coming to life, preparing breakfast for the 30 women and their children whom live at Homes of Hope. I am jarred awake amidst crying babies, dogs barking, laughing women, and the occasional pan hitting the cement floor. Who in the world needs an alarm clock here?

So, I roll out of bed and start my day by sitting on a bench outside enjoying this view, a cup of coffee, and my Jesus. Around 9, I am either in a meeting, teaching a class, tutoring a mum, or meeting one-on-one with a mum and counseling. Some days I am bemused by the fact that even here, in Fiji, my life has taken on a sort of predictability.

And then there are the heart wrenching days: A new mum on campus sporting a black eye, six months pregnant and towing a 2 year-old. She was beaten and kicked out by her husband; her family urging her back to the man who is slowly breaking her spirit. She is terrified to go back. Homeless. Alone. Godless.

Or there is the mum who came to talk and ended up revealing a past of agonies and treatment unfit for a dog. Emotionally destitute. Broken. Powerless.

Then I eat dinner. Sit in my house by myself; try to lose myself in a book just to disconnect from reality for a while. Shower. Bed. Wake up and do this again.

So, “happy” is a choice. “Happy” is choosing to find the adventure in this day. Happy is smiling when my mood cannot reflect the smile I wear. Happy is letting God surprise you with Isaac.

Isaac. Beautiful laughter that God rains on me like nuclear fall-out; a bomb that drops and decimates the darkness, brings a smile and joy that changes how I view the world. Isaac, meaning “Laughter” in Hebrew (Genesis 21) is when God made Sara, Abraham’s wife conceive and birth a son. Sara said, “God had made me laugh” (21:6), and thus she named her son Isaac…Laughter.

Laughter, this “fall-out” sticks with me, mutates my very make-up. I marvel at God’s foresight in how He fashioned us, that I might be in the midst of the mundane or depressed and find resurrection in the moment through Isaacing.
The Isaacing, oh the Isaacing!

Love, Katherine in Fiji...