Surely Goodness

Yesterday, I made a salad.  But it was one of the most calming and peaceful experiences I have ever had.  See, I didn't just make a salad.  I left work and went home to a man who deeply cares for me.  Then, in the quiet with glasses of wine and music playing, we made dinner.  We chatted, and shared sweet touches every now and then, and sang along to the music when the need arose, and joked.  But then, at other times we just stood in the quiet across the kitchen from each other working on our own tasks to make dinner for friends.  And in that quiet moment as I glanced up and looked out the back windows at some beautiful land, I caught a glimpse of the rest of my life.

I heard a pastor say a few weeks ago that the life of the Christian is meant to be a quiet and simple life.  Yesterday, I got just a little taste of what it will be like over the years to come.  The quiet.  The simplicity. The assurance. The comfort of a lover and a best friend who isn't going anywhere.  He looks nothing like anything I pictured I'd end up with - this man across the kitchen in the wranglers and fishing shirt, with his red beard and his deep kind eyes, with deep visible and invisible scars.  This man with his broken past who has seen and survived more than he lets anyone know.  This hard man who loves softly and completely.  On paper he's not who my dad would want me to end up with, but he's my match, and it's like everything finally makes sense, because when God moves, He moves.  When God acts in his sovereign goodness, it's irresistible.  And it is good.  It is often hard, but it is well with my soul. So why would you even want to resist?  Why not just enjoy each second of the ride?

Surely goodness, surely mercy,

right beside me all of my days,

I will dwell in your house forever,

and bless your holy name...