Aspirations

 

I started picking through some dusty boxes at the back of the garage.  I opened each box, and rummaged through them.  I put aside one or two books, then repacked each box without finding what I was looking for.

Finally, after 5 boxes, I found my treasure trove.  Faded notebooks and diaries, dating back through to the early 1990’s. 

I read through the oldest journal, deciphering the faded blue ink, looking for a particular entry.

The year I was 18, I spend a week of my holidays in solitude, staying at a family property in the bush. 

I spent some time walking, but mostly reading my Bible, reflecting and praying, and looking at the number of pages written during that week, journaling.

I remember writing this particular entry.  I sat on the armchair, cross legged, my feet tucked under me.  I gazed periodically out the window at the forest clad valley.

25 November 1991
Jeremiah 29:11-13: “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.  Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.  You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”
My goals in life:
I aspire to be a woman of Integrity, Graciousness, Courage, Wisdom and Holiness.

21 years later, having finished the last page of my current journal, I open a new, empty notebook. 

On the first page, I re-write the goal I set myself at the beginning of my journey, to continue to remind myself of the kind of person I pray that I may become.