Sunrise

Life at RVA is non-stop crazy.  During the course of the term we don't really have much time to think so our second-term break was much-needed.  We left RVA and all our cares behind and took a trip to the coast.  It was hot, but a great time to be a family and to relax and think.  On the way, we stopped for two nights in Tsavo West National Park and stayed at an older safari lodge with million dollar views, as many bugs and lizards and a whole lot of character.  I (Jim) woke up to watch the sunrise the first morning and it was stunning.  The bird songs were amazing, the view looked like something out of a magazine - fake almost - and I sat there thinking about how awesome our God is and snapping pictures.  Then I realized that pictures alone did not come close to capturing the moment, so here's a video - turn up the volume and watch the sunrise

The video's short for a reason and it's not the ridiculously slow upload speed of an internet connection in the developing world.  If the audio is turned up loud, at the end there's a little 'thump.'  That was the sound of Joel falling out of his bed, knocking a glass off the bedside table to its glittery end.  Needless to say, my morning reflection was over.  I was left thinking it would be really nice to ACTUALLY leave everything behind.  I've said it before: I'd really like to become a hermit, live in a cave, watch sunrises and think - nothing else.  It's hard to balance all of it:  Am I so busy working to 'fulfill my calling' that I neglect to listen to the one who called me to that work?  Or am I so busy trying to listen to God and discern my calling that I fail to actually DO any work?  Too often I think I'm stuck at one extreme or the other, absorbed by doing or paralyzed by lack of direction.