fire in the belly

Taking a brief break from wedding posts (one more to come)...

I am so incredibly energized by people who live and move and even breathe with passion. There is something really precious to me about conversations with a person whose whole being pulses with what he/she is saying. After small group last night, I got to chat with a friend, Sarah, who I've just recently met. She's in the middle of a Ph.D. in education, and is deeply moved by / moving towards real reform in urban public education. Seeing kids learn and understand on their own lights her eyes, and it was easy to see that the only thing giving her patience right now, since she can't be in the classroom, is studying to make that classroom better once she gets back to it.

Hearing her story, the things that led her to be where she is now, was one of those conversations where, as my dad used to say, "if that don't light your fire, your wood must be wet!" It reminded me of how many folks in my life right now are like that, and how much i appreciate them... and how earnestly I want to be that sort of person, myself.