A number of years ago I had a dream. I was being hammered through a very stressful, anxiety-filled season and this dream gloriously felt like the meaning of life was being explained to my very soul. It was so clear that I was sure I would remember every insignificant detail. Unfortunately the moment I woke it all melted away and only one thing remained, branded in my thoughts was "the answer is under the umbrella". In my waking, slightly lucid state, this one thought made perfect sense, but as day came I contemplated this again and wondered what magic mushrooms I had ingested the night before.
This remained in my thoughts for the following weeks until one day I got it. I felt almost stupid that it took that long for the penny to drop. You see, every morning, I make myself a cup of tea, go to our back decking and sit down with my tea, headphones, Spotify playlist, YouVersion verse of the day, a hopeful heart and wide-eyed imagination. I sometimes sit there for an hour or more until my spirit connects with God and His presence is tangible like an indescribable aroma of lingering peace. It's very simple. I like it.
This decking where I sit is situated at the rear of the most delightful, charm-filled baby blue Queenslander you could possibly imagine. As you open the door to the decking, the almost-always blue sky presents a postcard-perfect background to the lush green palm fronds that frame the railing that joins to our gorgeous blue house. It gets quite glary and hot there under the Queensland sun so I sit down on our bench at a bar table, shaded by an oversized umbrella.
An umbrella.
This umbrella has shaded me as I have drunk countless cups of tea, baring my soul to my creator. It has covered me as I have danced with Jesus in my naive imagination. I have sat under this umbrella to the tune of my Spotify playlist while time and time again relinquishing my concerns and entrusting them to the hands of God. I never knew this crazy peace in the washing machine of life, except for what my spirit and heart have come to know and trust from my time under the umbrella.
The answer is under the umbrella.
Rebecca Domorev
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