"Do you believe in magic?"

There are a billion things I should be doing right now instead of sitting here under an electric blanket eating a Three Musketeers for dinner and writing about nothing.  I need to pack.  I need to draft about fifty emails, plan out a budget for the semester, and brainstorm ideas to plump up my currently empty Africa fundraising account. I also need to get to sleep at a decent time so I can stay awake on the ride back to Nashville tomorrow.

A cozy warm nest of blankets and a candybar sounds like much more fun though.

I had a good week.  I spent Tuesday with my mom, Wednesday with my jr. high Sunday school teacher/high school boss/very dear friend, and Thursday with an assortment of people that I had not seen in entirely too long. I thought I would share the highlights with you.

During one of my ventures, I was riding the escalator in Barnes & Noble.  I was there to pick up a book to replace one I had borrowed from a friend.  The borrowed book met a rather unfortunate ending, and I felt pretty terrible about it. In front of me on the escalator was a little sandy-haired boy, probably about eight years old.  He was holding the hand of a little girl who was maybe six.  Her dark curly hair was pulled back in pigtails, and she was tapping her little black patent shoe impatiently. "Do you believe in magic, Chloe?" the boy asked. Chloe raised one eyebrow and smirked. "No," she scoffed. "I've never seen it." The boy just smiled. "Of course not.  If you had seen it, you wouldn't have to believe in it, because you would know..."

I wanted to tell him that I do.  I believe in magic-- in the Aslan kind, anyway... the kind of magic that melts away Christmas-less winters and wakes up hearts that were turned to stone.  When we grow up, we give it different names, like Grace, Forgiveness, and Redemption.  But when we're little-- when our hearts are still innocent and adventurous enough to believe in something bigger than itself without doubt or inhibition-- we call it magic.

My two-year-old niece and two-year-old cousin both stayed then night one evening.  We spent a couple hours chasing each other through the house, growling and pouncing and screaming like banshees. As Ryleigh was falling asleep, I went to check on her.  She smiled that beautiful dimpled grin and brushed her golden curls off her face.  Then she closed her little blue eyes, sighed deeply, and said, "Goodnight, mommy. I love you so much."

Yes, I know she was half asleep and delirious. It doesn't matter. My heart grew three sizes anyway.

On Thursday I went north to Olney to meet a girl I had worked with at camp a couple of summers ago.  She's going to spend a few weeks in Kenya next summer, and it was great to catch up with her and hear what's going on in her life.  Then I kept on going north to have a late lunch with a couple of friends that I haven't seen since high school.  I really enjoyed meeting the rest of their family.  The food was absolutely amazing.  We sat at the table for hours exchanging stories, and this family definitely has some stories to tell.  They also listened-- really listened-- to my past experiences and my dreams for the future.  I really appreciated and needed that more than they could possibly have known.  Evening came far too soon, and I bid them a fond farewell as I slipped in my car to make the long drive home.  I left their house thoroughly refreshed and encouraged. They are truly wonderful people, and I hope it's not another three years before I see them again.  It was a good day; it had been a long time since I had found a good excuse to ramble on about Kazembe for hours.

I've found myself missing Kazembe more than usual this week.  I always miss it, but these past few days the faces of last summer have visited my thoughts and dreams a bit more frequently.  New Year's day will be my halfway point between the time I came back to the States last August and when I can go back to my kids in May.  While the rest of the world counts down to the dawning of a new year, I'll be counting down to my own milestone.  I should have a plane ticket within the next week or two.

Tomorrow morning I'll head back to Nashville.  As much as I've enjoyed my time in Illinois, I'm absolutely pining to get home.  I miss my friends, and I'm ready to get back into the rhythm of work, school, and coffee-shop-hopping.  I have a sneaking suspicion that it is going to be a really, really great new year.  Because I believe in Magic.