It is a typical fall day. I walked from home to coffee shop office this morning and the brisk nip was in the air. Crunchy leaves dotted the path and I zig zagged to crunch them underfoot. (My friend Jenn and I go out of our way to step on particularly crunchy leaves, you see. It is our understood pact.)
I prepared for a "pizza theology" teaching most of the morning as I sipped my latte and enjoyed the small town buzz of people coming and going. A lot was on my mind in the midst of the task at hand. Creativity and finding the time to dream, community: getting real and plunging deep, challenge and the desire in me to grow beyond and learn more, to think intellectually and the difficulty I am finding in fulfilling those desires.
I am surrounded by books and feel like I'm centimetering my way through them (much slower than "inching"). But I feel like the books might just be the first bite of starting to eat this elephant. I'm sure these longings will ebb and flow but not really go away through the course of my lifetime. And though I want to live a very "present" life, enjoying the simplest moments of the day-to-day, the lingering desire for just a little bit more challenge, a little broader knowledge, and a bigger dream is something I am thankful for.