On the day Mary Oliver died, a friend posted her poem, “The Summer Day,” with its poignant closing lines:

Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?

As I fast approach retirement, much of my thoughts have been about the meaning of service. Service has been my calling and profession for over forty years. Of course, librarianship is a career deeply rooted in service. Within higher education it is typical for libraries to be associated with other academic support services.

When I was in my freshman year of college, I was seeking God’s will for my life. The college had a special missions emphasis week, and during that time the Lord made it very clear to me that He wanted me to serve Him as a cross-cultural missionary.

November typically has me meditating on what I’m thankful for, and this year I’ve been especially struck by God’s provision for my library’s collection—not just in the last few months, but throughout the past twenty years.

Is it God’s will for us to be miserable? No. It is not God’s design, will, or intent for us to be miserable. He does not delight in our pain. He certainly did not delight in the suffering of His own Son on the cross. Neither did Jesus want the suffering that bearing the weight of sin would cause Him (Matthew 26:39).