Remembering the stars

So I've been wanting to write this for a few days now so I figured I would take a quick break from the tiny bit of school work I am doing this weekend and just get it down on paper.

Some nights I really miss my time in Fiji. I don't necessarily miss the bugginess or the humidity, but I miss the simplicity of it all. Late at night when the electricity was turned off, I would sometimes walk outside and just look up at the stars. Thousands of little lights illuminating the ground, so bright I didn't even need a flashlight. There were days -- weeks even -- of no make up, fresh water from the stream showers, hand washed laundry at 6am. Early sunrises and early sunsets with days filled with rainshowers, talks of Jesus and his love and the comfort of friends as close as family. My three most valued possessions were my Bible, notebook (and pen) and the songs coming through my headphones.

I do not miss being away from my family or having no contact with the world beyond the island, but I do miss being disconnected, unplugged, away from the world for a time. Sometimes I truly miss gazing at the beautiful creation around me and marveling at the Creator in a place where nothing else mattered -- just me and the Lord.

I learned so much on that trip. God stretched and grew me in those two months that I spent in the middle of the Pacific. He helped me do things that I never imagined I could accomplish or withstand. I miss the days when I could take the time to sit in the sun and bask in the Savior's presence.

My life here is so different from those two months that I spent amidst the flowers and raindrops -- with new friends and old ones -- living simply to know God and make him known. But it's not a bad different. I'm learning to experience God in new ways -- to fit my schedule around him so that my life can still bring him glory -- so I can still be about the will of my Father.

Although I miss the time with the stars, the raindrops, and the overwhelming love of the Lord, we -- he and I -- are making a new time here. Someday I'm sure I will look back and think on this time and find myself missing now.

Cherish each day. Make the most of it. Make it count for eternity.