New Life

Happy (late) Easter everybody!

In this past week I have been doing a lot of thinking about living and dying. The Jesus story is so very full of death. The death of Jesus, the death of Lazarus, the death of an entire system. But in each of those events, there is new life that can only be found on the other side. Our culture is so afraid of death, both emotionally and physically. Yes, we are afraid of passing from this world. But we are also afraid in every other sense- the death of a relationship or the death of parts of ourselves. We are afraid of the small deaths that come from each ending of a chapter.

But the reality is that without death there can be no new life. Each year we must come to winter, it is only after the cold of the end that we can make way for the beauty and new life found in spring.

I have died here in Cambodia. I have lost everything I use to define myself, I have lost friends and comfort, I have lost myself. At times I have cried out to God, asking why I would be sent  here if it meant losing all that I was?

Because the best is yet to come, and I will confess I am only beginning to see the Light at the end of the tunnel.

I have been a "Christian" my whole life. At 6 years old I could have told you what it meant to be "born again". But I have only known what is it to be born again in this year. Because to be born again, you must first die. The old self must be removed, like a snake shedding its skin, to reveal the new life underneath. It is a painful, beautiful process; a process I hope to continue going through for the rest of my days.

So Happy Easter to all of you, I wish you all a year of new life.