Putting Things Into Focus

16 days left in Korea.  The days are creeping by slowly and steadily, and instead of a general haze of activity and thoughts, my vision starts to winnow away the peripheries and bring into focus what is ahead.  This is a process which always seems to happen right before you transition from one place to another, and I have always believed it is God making your heart ready to let go and move on.  The people around you seem a bit more irritating, the work requires a little more patience, and your brain is tempted to linger on what is next.  All of this seems particularly emphisized this time and it is a mixed blessing.  Things haven't gone the way I thought they would and I find many people fading more and more into the background as my departure draws closer.  It is painful for those friendships you thought were solid to feel more distant, but it does make it easier to step away.  And as things move aside, it only brings into sharp relief the things that are most important.  In some instances, what is left in focus is unexpected, and yet in many ways, they are the biggest blessings of all, because they are the things you would not have seen or chosen on your own.  They are the things God placed around you in the middle of the chaos; the things you weren't ready to see; the things you didn't know you needed or wanted.  But then when the time is right - when HIS time is right - they are revealed, and it all makes sense.  Your eyes, your mind, your faith, and your heart coincide: this is what is good.  This is what is right.  Glory to God.