Putting it all in perspective...

I received word on Monday that my request for a Declaration of Nullity was with a judge. This is a big deal. I started the process in October of 2007, completed my paperwork in May of 2008, and I'm anxiously awaiting a decision -- mostly because I want to be able to close that chapter of my life, so I can move into the next fully and without hinderance. Overall, the process has been rough, with unnecessary delays that have thrown me into all out rage. Hearing that the case was finally in the hands of a judge sent simultaneous tremors of joy and pangs of anxiety straight through me. I reviewed in my head the things I remembered writing; I tried to imagine the words of my witnesses. Most of all, I prayed the judge was a speedy reader.

And then God put things back in perspective.

I was reminded that yesterday was the two year anniversary of the Bluffton baseball team's bus crash in Atlanta. I graduated from high school with the older brother of one of the players who was killed. His dad works at the school where I did my student teaching, and where I taught summer school. I'm pretty sure I never actually met the kid, but I knew who he was. He was filled with passion and a love of life.

Today is the five year anniversary of the death of the mother of someone I went to high school with. We went to the same church, too. His mother was murdered by a co-worker. I didn't know her well, but she was amazingly joy-filled and enthusiastic.

Juxtaposed with these tragic anniversaries are the exhausted tales of one friend, rediscovering the world through the life of her newborn son. Another is anxiously awaiting the debut of her little "chili pepper", and yet another is excited to learn the gender of her baby, due in September.

God puts it all in perspective.

I got an e-mail today that included the following message: I marvel at the people that God puts in our lives, some for five minutes, some for five years, some for life; regardless, I marvel at how many wonderful people are out there and how many of them I have been fortunate enough to have impact my life.

Indeed.

"Life is lumpy. But a lump in the oatmeal -- a lump in the throat -- and a lump in the breast -- are not the same lump. We should learn to know the difference." (from All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten by Robert Fulghum)