the lines have fallen

Trail on the University of Mobile Campus, October 2012

I'm trying to understand tonight's feeling: this weight of gratitude, hope, and sorrow that has been brooding above me, keeping me warm on this winter's night. To this end, I've drafted five different entries. Not one has worked. I've tried to tell stories about how moving here is different from my many transitions in the last ten years. I tried reflecting on what I learned this semester. I tried describing the difference between being "Dr." and "Miss." I tried to understand why this semester feels so momentous, though I have been teaching college English for six years now.

Maybe the stories aren't ready to hatch yet. Or maybe I'm too tired to tell them well. They may come later,  but right now I just feel too broken with joy and hope, wonder and repentance, to trust very many of my own words. For now, only this:

The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;

indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.

                                                    (Psalm 16:6 ESV)