by Heather Phillips
Grace and peace to you!
Lesotho Newsletter no. 3! One of the phrases most commonly used whenever the team was out on a hike, was “Just around the Corner”. Where is the next village? Just around the corner! Where is the next house we’re visiting? Just around the corner! Where is the tap? Just around the corner! Where is the waterfall? Just around the corner!
The problem is, just around the corner, can be just around the corner or just around another five corners! The tap really was nearby. The waterfall… It had been quite a few years since I went on the Waterfall hike. I remembered the landmarks, but not where they were along the trail. So I kept telling the teens “we are almost there”, and Tsepho kept telling us “it’s just around the corner”. Until the teens eventually got a less rough estimate out of him: just around the corner, was 2 hours away…
In their defense, the teens handled the news well. However, they would not speak to me for about 10 minutes after learning of their extended hike. All was forgiven when we reached the waterfall though!
I’ve been hearing “It’s just around the corner!” a lot lately, with every person I bump into, asking when the wedding is. (The answer is the 1st of May at 2:30, everyone is invited to the ceremony!) The choruses of “Just around the corner!” send my stomach into loops of anxiety and excitement!! So much to do, so much to do! I feel like the white rabbit, running around, late for a very important date!
But just like the taps and the waterfalls in Malealea, just around the corner eventually comes. And as much as I’m a nervous wreck at the moment getting things ready for the big day, I cannot wait for it to come too.
We all have big days that we are excitedly counting the sleeps towards or staring in trepidation at the calendar. “Just around the corner” can mean many things. Whatever springs to mind when you think of the future and what’s to come, it can be a comfort that no matter what, it will come. The things we look forward to and the things we fear will come and go.
“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens” Ecclesiastes 3:1.
Solomon in all his morose wisdom, was right. God’s timing is uncanny. He puts people in our lives when they need to be there. He puts us where we need to be when the time is right. As scary as the unknown future of “what’s just around the corner” might be, the knowledge that we are not alone in it, is enough. God’s timing is perfect and His presence is palpable. He is with us around every corner!
Much love in Christ
Heather P