Maria's at night

It's Friday night. For those of you who have been keeping up with this blog, you know what that means...LAUNDRY! Yeah! There's something else I love about Friday nights (any night really, but Friday nights in particular). As I walk from the laundry room to the stairwell to make my trek to the 6th floor, I pass the Tinkerbell room. Four of my sweet preschool babies live in the Tinkerbell room, so I love peeking in and seeing what they are up to from time to time. Tonight I peeked in and saw two of them by the door reading so I popped in. Immediately I was greeted with their excitement as they called out "Becca!" followed by "circle...triangle...square!" We have been learning shapes the past few weeks and they love to sing the songs that go with each shape. I sat with my four babies, one snuggled in my lap, and we sang a few songs together. What better way to spend a Friday evening?

There's something else I love about Maria's at night...

The picture isnt exceptionally clear, but I think it's good enough to convey the image I want to "paint" for you. Maria's is located several miles outside the city, so the further you get out of the city, the darker it becomes as there are fewer street lights and buildings. I have found this to be very true when I am taking a taxi home in the evenings and you almost have to be up on the drive before you can see enough to tell the driver where to turn. Despite the surrounding darkness, as soon as the gate opens, this is what we see. And it's like this no matter what time of night you drive up. Amidst the surrounding darkness, there is light. Bright light.

I am sure at this point you probably see where I am going with this. Yes, it is a literal light; a literal brightness amidst a real darkness. But it's so much more. His light shines in this place. In the midst of surrounding spiritual darkness, His light is so evident here. There is life here. There is love here. There is healing here. He is here. And I am reminded of that every time I drive up to Maria's at night.