Here are two similar stories that seemed to fit well together...

"Recently, 4 souls have been launched to heaven from our Monastery cemetery, where their outgrown bodies are now planted, awaiting the common Resurrection...  From Sacred Monastery of St. Sidonia, Union Bridge, Maryland.
Pascha Newsletter , 2026

"Oh, Louisa, is it not true that our life here is a growing into life and our death a being born-our true birth?
If there is anything beautiful in this our dreamy life, shall it not shine forth in glory in the bright waking consciousness of heaven?"
George MacDonald, Scotland's Beloved Storyteller, Michael R. Phillips, Bethany House Pub, 1987, p150

Here is one I post, because I need to remember this:

​"And having taken the seven loaves and the fish, He gave thanks, broke them and gave them to His disciples, and they in turn to the people” (Mat. 15:36)
Meditation:
In the spiritual world, just as in the material one, not infrequently, secondary causes determine events. The Savior multiplied the loaves, but did not distribute them Himself to the crowd. He first gave them to the disciples, and thus the divine gift did not pass directly to the waiting crowd.
The same happens with us. The Lord feeds us with His food, but very often offers this food in clay jars. He sends it through trials, difficult changes in our lives, and often through the most inconspicuous and ordinary means. Every day, every hour, every moment we encounter these instruments, sent from above. Every one of our experiences, no matter the price with which it was purchased, in some way educates us, just as we are educated by contacts with people whom we encounter on our way. The heavenly bread reaches us, passing through countless numbers of human hands.
Lord, turn me also into one of your instruments – act through me! I would like to consciously feed the person who is hungry with Your bread and strengthen him with Your strength. I would like to take into my hands Your bread and distribute it to the needy.
Only let me deeply and humbly recognize that I do not have any supply of my own and that dry is the bread and dirty the water which I would want to offer my neighbor on my own behalf. So show me how poor I am, show me to first stretch my hands to You, and then to my brother, in order to give him not what is mine, but what is Yours! 
from The Russian Day by Day/St. John The Baptist Orthodox Church, Washington, DC

In Responses to Thalassios-"Just as the Word created His own mother in order to be born, so to He first creates faith within us, then becomes the son of that faith, through which He is embodied through the practice of the virtues.
Introduction The Mother of the Light-V. Rev. Archimandrite Maximos Constas, p XV

​Constructs…Our mind is filled with things that should work that might not. Acceptance, there is the trolley car, catch it to view the world as it is. Through those glasses all things are, there is no need to add to them.
If you live in Oklahoma, tornados are part of life. If you live in sunny California and an earthquake comes upon you, you know that is part of your day.  Do we let things, events get in the way of who and what we are?
A friend is moving to another seashore further north. It is a house where her furniture doesn’t quite fit, but one she feels called, knowing Jesus sent her. She liked the way the situation looked, went home, and then drove back again to see the house.
Here is someone that is basing her life on places and experiences. I find that interesting. She likes to swim for health reasons, as well as joy, so her need is water, and an Orthodox Church. That sounds reasonable to me. What if I traveled the world for just the same reason. Taking in what was available and given to me and keeping my eyes open for God. I think that is what my daughter has in mind. God in places and experiences…a good thought.
Where would I go first? Well, there is here. I will go with her in a few minutes to a local hardware/ garden store, just for the joy of getting some violas. Something in me wants some flowers in the cold.
As I type, beside me, is an Ethiopian Nativity icon under the glass on my table. On it the Mother of God is wrapped up like a baby, who has just had the baby that is Jesus Christ. She in her loving kindness, gentle mercy, and love for His people, conceived of the Love of God, to come to us, and save us.  Love was conceived within mankind for yet another chance. Just look at what Love has done in response to the appeal of Love.  There is that. The keys of the universe, right there. Love. Also, being a baby- receptive- with eyes open to find the point of Life, Love, and He, who is…God.