Aveline is finally asleep. The house is quiet for the first time in hours, silent except for the raspy motor on the overhead fan and the clink of the spoon against my cobalt cereal bowl.
My eyelids are heavy. I stare, unsure what to do with this pure, quiet, uninterrupted time. The need for sleep tugs at me, but it no longer captures me with the same intensity it once did. In the past year, I’ve adopted a new definition of what it means to be well-rested.
There is a profound peace in this stillness, tonight. I exhale, the sound of my own voice blending with the fan. I watch the blades spin, lifting and twisting the Florida air. I think of how one year ago, I and a five-week-old Aveline flew through the Florida air to join Josiah, who’d been here for a couple weeks already due to an answered prayer — a full-time job.
I think of the fear and hope of the past two years. I think how hope has been woven into our lives, how hope is the shining thread, the strongest cord, the lifeline of who we are — not because of hope itself, but because of God in who we hope.
I think of the myriad of ways our God poured down manna to us, sometimes as a raven in the wilderness and sometimes as a coin in the mouth of a fish. I think of how He always, always, filled our cups and let them overflow.
And I stand here now in the overflow, here in the land of our sojourn, filled with thankfulness and gratitude and wonder because today — today! — we are finally debt-free. I close my eyes and breath deeply. The glory is God’s.
I lower my spoon, resting the silver-scrolled edge against the bowl. I stand up, and walk toward the bedroom. The night pulled its dusky cover over the earth long ago, and sleep calls.
Before the sun burns off the early morning haze, Aveline will awaken, bright eyed. The sound of silence will be overcome by the sound of life, the sound of love, the clink of the coffee scoop. And the aroma of coffee will swirl and mix with the Florida air, Josiah will kiss me on the forehead, and the thread of hope will shine brighter than ever.
Reading in the car — Hannah Coulter by Wendell Berry. So sad. So good.
This backpack has been a lot of places.
The town of Cocoa = ubiquitous surf shops and signs with strange grammar.
Impaled shark on sign post. Also, brother. The glasses did not make the trip home; they were swallowed by a wave.
Not sure what “off price shells” are, but they are selling out.
Sans toddler! Thank you, Mom and Dad, for our very first full day away from Aveline. This was the first time in a long while that we both sat down simultaneously while at the beach. ;)
Josiah filming my brother (SchultzFan/John Busakowski rides BMX on YouTube)
The kid is crazy. (SchultzFan/John Busakowski rides BMX on YouTube)
Amazing to have my brother here (from 1,500 miles away!) for Spring Break!
Husband. His hair’s getting long again.
Snacks. And I didn’t even notice the cheerio until just now!
Once John edits the footage he took while he was here, I’ll post a link! Until then, you can check out his YouTube channel.
The Oaxacaborn Blog 