the end of a chapter...

today was just like any other friday for the past 7 years. got up, went to zheng yi elementary school, taught my classes, loved on my kids, laughed and chatted in the office with the teachers, took the bus home...
it seemed like an ordinary friday, but it was different. it was different because today i did all these things for the last time. today the part of my life where i am an english teacher in kinmen came to an end. today marked the end of the way things have been for 7 years.

if i was writing the story of my life, what would this chapter include?
it would be the story of a call and of answering the call; of a rending, of seperation, of clinging, of surrender, of seeking and finding, of a sufficient fulfilling and supplying. the story of learning to love without being loved in return, of pouring forth and returning to the Source to be filled again; the story of burdens being borne and of learning to roll them onto the shoulders of One strong enough to bear them; the story of sowing with tears without knowing when or how the harvest will be brought forth; of trusting the Lord of the harvest to water and bring to fruit the seeds sown by those He sends into His fields...

it would be the story of a faith being grown, of faith holding on and losing hold, of faith failing, and of the One Who is ever faithful; the story of a broken heart, and of a near turning away from the known path; of a Guide who ever goes before and Who knows the way, of a Shepherd Who never leaves or forsakes His lambs, and of a Father Who chastens and disciplines and brings back into His way those children whom He loves; the story of an all-knowing One who will do what is best for His own, at any cost; the story of a God who gives and takes away, but who gives Himself in return; the story of restoring, of healing, of returning, of believing again; the story of many battles, fierce and intense, and of the mighty King who will always have the victory; the story of evil desperately struggling against the good, but failing each time it encounters the Strong One Whose very name offers protection, hope, and peace and Whose Word is a sharp sword...

it would be the story of friendships forged in the fires of affliction and suffering, to come forth stronger than ever, resilient amid the most vicious storms one could encounter; the story of a Voice that calls within the heart, of learning to hear that Voice above all others, and of laying down one's all to obey it; the story of proving daily that the One Whose Voice calls is enough...that He is ultimitely worthy of the greatest devotion, the supreme sacrifice, the highest praise...

and so this chapter closes

what the next part of the story will bring, i do not know, but i know the One who is writing the story. and i trust Him.