Magic in the Mundane

Have you ever thought about just how much can happen in one year?

One year ago, at this time, I was frantically preparing myself to go to England. The 7 months or so that I was there was undoubtedly the most amazing experience I have ever had in my life. In some ways, the adventure was idyllic: I lived in a beautiful old manor house in the English countryside, twenty minutes from the ocean. Pictures of all the beautiful things I saw, whether they be old buildings, myriads of artificats located in a museum, or the rich hue of the always well-watered grass still sit in the forefront of my mind, close to my heart.






But even closer than that are the travel stories; the grime of a city street hundreds call home, the sheer multitude of of people sleeping under the fluorescent lights of an Italian train station, myself included...

...the many times I actually got to live out my faith in real and scary scenarios. The conversations about God I had with the boy in the hostel, the lady in the airport, the German journalist...

Six weeks of travelling as an unemployed student pushed me to the extreme when it came to money. I lived in an incredibly minimalistic way. I spent night after night without a bed or a blanket, on a cold floor or under a bench. But I was nowhere close to living in poverty; I had bread to eat, I had clothes to wear.

I can't help but think that "now that I have seen, I am responsible...faith without deeds is dead".

...

In my head I think I had this fairytale view of magic...and I pictured myself, walking into a ball in a lavish gown and tiara, or receiving a distinguished honour of some variety. I dreamed that "big" moments such as these would be the most important, magical, incredible ones of my life; it made me a little depressed because I am a very average person who lives in a small town...and I know these big moments will be few and far between.



But after traipsing around Europe, and months of reflection at home, I realize that magic can be found every day. In my cheese and lettuce sandwich, a cup of coffee shared with a friend, seeing the leaves change colour, feeling a raindrop on my skin...

There is magic in the mundane.
There is magic in my life in Saskatchewan.

In England, I came to a beautiful place in my relationship with Jesus where I realized He is not only my Lord, but my Friend. My best friend. I am sad that I am not living in England anymore, to be honest. I love it there; I think part of my heart is still sitting in the courtyard of that old manor house. Despite any sadness I feel though, there is an underlying happiness; I have brought the best of England home with me: I have brought all the adventures I had with my Best Friend.

I guess what I want you to get from this is:
a) I'm sorry that I talk about England so much when I'm with you. I try to control it, but what I learned overseas has truly shaped who I am, and my life with Jesus. I feel bad sometimes, because I just can't stop talking about all these little things that happened to me, but maybe now you have a greater understanding of it all.
b) It doesn't matter where you are in the world, or what you're doing: you can experience the truly magical in your life all because of Jesus.

The best thing is that this magic is not an illusion or trick.
This Love is real.

And thus, my England adventures continue...
because He is here with me.