Recently, I just finished reading a read aloud for my class of seventh graders called The Midwife's Apprentice. The book takes place during Medieval times in Europe and is about a girl named Dung Beetle (later dubbed Alyce) who is a nobody and soon discovers that she is worth something to herself and to the others in the village and in her life. Some themes to the book include finding oneself, persevering through tough situations, and making the best of any situation (to name a few).
When I reread books, I always find passages or parts that strike me differently every year. This year, it was the part where Magister Reese, the scholar who visits and stays at the inn where Alyce has run away to work because of her failure as a midwife's apprentice, asks Alyce what she wishes for in life. She thinks about this thoughtfully and then responds, I want a "full belly, a contented heart, and a place in this world." Magister Reese thinks these are awfully big things for an inn girl to want, but he thinks them honorable and worthy.
I was thinking about what Alyce said in the book this past week and while I've had my ups and downs this past year, I was thinking about my own wishes and wants. If Magister Reese was to ask me my very desires at this very moment, what would I, an almost-thirty-year-something school teacher, want?
I think my answer would be very similar to Alyce's. While I have pined for so long for companionship, if I'm not meant to marry and have a husband and children (which I hope that isn't the case), I would want my heart to feel content, to feel joy and love if those things were not present and were not a part of my life. I, too, would want "a contented heart and a place in this world." While I'm still finding the things that fill my heart with joy completely, I will continue to thank God for those small and big blessings and to live in the moment. I know I have a place in this world, and that God has put me here to bring joy and love to those around me, wherever I am present.
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