using it up

One of my very most favorite things is when you get to the end of something and finally use it all up! For instance-- the very last drop of toothpaste, the last teaspoon of olive oil, the last bar of gasoline, the last bean of coffee, the last bit of shampoo (after adding water and shaking it up for a few more uses), the last chapter of a book (even if I didn't like it very much, I still have to finish it!), the last day before an anniversary becomes official (4 years last month!).

My friend Jill is one of the only ones before today who knew this about me. Which is why she gave me a tube of toothpaste that appeared empty unless you started rolling it up from the end. My mom likely intrinsically knows this about me, as she sent me a bottle of perfume last month that was on its very last dregs.

Why am I like this? I'm not sure. But I am enjoying the sensation of completion again this week. It's reading week at seminary. My first semester, I thought this meant vacation week. Nope! And by nope, I mean, how could I have possibly thought that?! So this week, I will be enjoying the completion of 5ish books, a paper or 2, and scholarship applications. It may seem like too much, until I get a little list going with boxes to check off. Ah......... completion.

There is something deeper going on here. I believe in a God who also longs for the completion-- the fullness-- of all the world, restored to relationship with him and to order according to his justice. "In the last days, the mountain of the LORD’s temple will be established as the highest of the mountains; it will be exalted above the hills, and peoples will stream to it. Many nations will come and say, 'Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the temple of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths.'” - Micah 4:1-2