Manna

Manna is the food God gave the Israelites while they were wandering in the wilderness. I'm pretty sure manna means, "what is it?" and I think that's funny. I have a feeling it wasn't all that appetizing. But it fed them, and they survived.

The thing about manna was that they couldn't collect more than they needed. Every day they had to collect more of it. If they horded it, it would all go bad. So manna made them have to trust. Every day. Trust there would be enough to survive the next day.

A couple years ago we moved for Jesse's new job. I was interviewing at a congregation, but the process often takes months, so I was unemployed in a new city for about 3 months. Aaron was still in my tummy, so I wasn't very busy. And that made me crazy.

I'm an extrovert. Hanging out by myself all day with no purpose is probably definitely not my best self. I am being dramatic, I had plenty of purpose, but you know what I mean. So, I started thinking about purpose/connection/human interactions/things to do each day as manna. When I looked at my calendar that was mostly blank it was overwhelming, but you know what? Each day I received manna. I had something each day that brought me joy, I found reasons to leave the house, practices and hobbies that were important to me, a new love for cooking, new people to meet, people I love that came to visit, etc. I always had enough.

When I think about any particular aspect of my life being scarce, I think about manna. I think God's still handing that out. What is it? Maybe it looks a little different for each of us.