Bright orange is my least favorite color. The color of the construction signs. The construction cones and barrels. I hate construction even more than I hate bright orange, and right now my life is full of road construction. For the last YEAR of school they've been constructing along the exact segment of 465 that I take to school every day, kept closed the exit to Crawfordsville road that provided me a shortcut to school, and the road is uneven and bumpy, with no improvements in sight. Now around church, I have to drive an extra ten minutes out of my way to get from the main campus to where Sunday school meets.
The worst part about all of this construction is the seeming futility of it--by the time it's finished, I'll be in China and never able to use the newly paved, smooth roads that make the construction worthwhile! Argh! As I sit in traffic, going out of my way to get to where I'm going, it makes me a bit bitter to realize that for me this construction is pointless.
I've begun to realize that this construction is a good metaphor for my time at Ben Davis. Lots of bumpy, messy roads, lots of going the long way, lots of seeming inefficiency, and it won't be finished or looking closer to perfect by the time I leave. As I prepare to leave, I see some loose ends still untied, some stories I've invested heavily in yet in progress, bright orange signs everywhere I look. I won't see the end of those stories, and I won't be around when the road is finally paved and smoothed.
So I ask Father Why? Why this construction? The answer ranges from "to teach you obedience through faith even when you can't see the end" to "so you can consider the progress toward Me of others as more important than the emotional kicks you get out of actually seeing it" or "because that's how I want it--I'm faithful!"
So I place the construction in His hands, striving to be satisfied with him being lifted high in the end, even if I don't see that end while here on earth!
