So Much More than Chocolate!

What do I write when I feel like the experiences of late are just a little too sacred to write in detail about?  Yet I want to write . . .   I feel like I've had opportunity to see just a few of the threads in the weaving of my life.  (Click here to read the poem this statement referenced by Corrie ten Boom).    

There is a bit of irony in being here at the Hershey Lodge for a few days, which has as one of it's slogans, "The Sweetest Place on Earth."  Yes - there are many "sweet offerings" here but none that compare to the sweetness of reuniting with someone we had not seen in 14 years.  To share a hug that communicates more than words ever could.  To share a bit of our lives since that time and wonder and dream how we will grow together from here.  To see seeds sown through tears sprouting up with shoots of new healthy growth.  That is so very much sweeter than the richest and most decadent offering Hershey can make.  

There is sweetness too in not necessarily doing anything - but just walking or sitting with the man who knows and loves me so deeply that simply being together in front of the fire is enough.  This my friends is the definition of contentment!

Jerry learns from Milton Hershey on a previous trip.

In addition to the "sweet thoughts" that come with being in Hershey comes thoughts of Milton Hershey's life.  Here is man who never had any children, yet has impacted the lives of countless children and adults through his school, the medical center, the chocolate related enterprises, etc.  The school, while started for boys, is now coed.  This morning I heard a houseparent talk about how she grew up at the school and now lives and work there to show kids a model of marriage and family life.  Again, an interesting place to be when we reconnected with someone for whom we tried to be that type of role model.  

Thank you God for the many flavors of sweetness that flow so richly through our lives.  Open my eyes and heart to taste and see that You Are Good!  Psalm 34:8