To New Eras…

It took 22 years, but you ended it. Really not in the way you thought you would, or even wanted to… but that tradition finally got put to pasture.

Looking back, it was getting to be an occasion for self indulgence, celebrating an accomplishment that seems more and more pedestrian as the years continue – not because it was… just… that as you grow older you realize that some things just don’t need to hold the same level of reverence.

Seemed like the same conversation with Him every year towards the end, until last year, when you realized you finally didn’t need it anymore. Last year, the Cistern was for once filled with CofC’s Alumni event. Traditional night would change, no matter once. And that’s when you felt Him smiling that “finally, you get it” smile.

What were you celebrating all those years? The happiest day of your life, that finally had changed? Apparently so. Sure, you couldn’t have done it without Him, but… that was a given. Just a given.

By now, you would have had decades to recover had that night not happened, and yet… you were celebrating what you did. Not what was done for you.

Ironic that last year’s May 14 was a tradition changed due to the happiness that had led to that day now finally becoming the second happiest day in your life, but unbeknownst to you, you’d spend it in the company of a thousand or so of your fellow alums who you were finally joining in moving on.

The first time since that day that May 14 falls on a Mother’s Day Sunday means now the beginning of newness.

The mundanity of spending it in rural West Texas working to build this chaotic new career with no connection to your beloved Cistern just oddly feels exactly the way it ought to be.

Cigar and convo with God are still on the menu – because you finally realized the most important thing that happened all those years ago wasn’t the day you “won”.

It was the night He showed you the kind of faith you’ve taken for granted. You’d remembered that night too, November 18, but it was an afterthought.

The date doesn’t matter. Only the gift does. His gift. The Cistern will always be sacred. But it’s not what matters.

Who you were in those days… was different. You didn’t have the Joy in your heart you do now. The vibrance. You were quieter. Lost a lot of the confidence you set out into the world with when you left home for the first time.

You believed in Him because you were raised to, and that faith was strong for what it was… but in the days since that night, what you had in your heart you had because you knew it was true; not because you were told.

Since then, you’ve learned of many that have testimonial experiences. Stands to reason. Suffice to say, now you have a Joy in your heart that just isn’t going to go away.

That’s the gift. Not what it anllo you to do. And it’s in your heart. Not your beloved Cistern.

Ne grateful to everyone who has been a part of your journey here. Especially on Mother’s Day.

And no, never forget how amazing the Cistern was. It was the second happiest time of your life.

In time, here’s hoping it’ll one day be the third. You never thought it would be the second. 😂

Either way, cigar tonight is in a hotel chair outside in northern Texas, ready for brutally physical work that transforms into a massive sense of accomplishment.

Thank God for this opportunity and every other blessing.

Long day tomorrow.🙂