It’s funny, my life is in major flux, including the mystery about where I should call “home” and I am back to living day by day in financial survival mode without a job, and the amazing thing … I haven’t laughed more in years. Joy surrounds me. Love holds me. Really, all is good with my soul. I know God has good things in store for me and delights taking care of me. I attest to the truth that Jesus gives us peace that surpasses understanding no matter what our situation is. His track record with me is perfect: he’s never failed to provide for me. I am simply waiting to see what’s next. I am living a big adventure with surprises at every turn.
Once on a road trip, driving alone on a beautiful, windy, hilly, somewhat less-traveled highway through Wisconsin, I learned a wonderful lesson. Life is like a roadtrip with unpredicable beauty at every turn – and there is nothing to worry about. The changing landscape was breathtaking. I’d reach the top of a hill and before me would stretch out the most spectacular scene. This repeated itself over and over, and I’d try to guess what next work of art might fill my eyesight over the next hill and then the next. Trees, rivers, meadows, the changing terrain was completely unpredictable. I’d take several curves in the road that would suddenly open up to a lake view, or perhaps it would be rolling farmland, perhaps a forest, or a country bridge. I didn’t know what was in store for me around the next bend or hill. I remember thinking how very much my life was like that. I couldn’t guess what was coming next but when I’d get there my heart would fill up with the beauty of that particular place. I couldn’t help but smile with the idea that God was watching me and enjoying my discovery at every turn. It feels much the same right now.
I don’t mind my unpredictable circumstances; logically speaking, I should be afraid, but I’m not. I know God loves me and enjoys my childlike expectation I have in what beautiful new thing I’m about to come into. I’ve learned God is trustworthy, kind, and quite capable of taking care of me. So, I can laugh at setbacks, they just help nudge me along the right path. Since I’ve been in Minnesota, looking for a new job, I had some surprising, beautiful opportunities. One was to help save a dear friend’s life a couple of weeks ago. All I did was call 911 and hold her hand in the ICU as the doctors and medicine did the rest of the work. What a privilege—God gave me something important to do. Oh, and I have fallen in love with a small angel—a granddaughter I’d never have had the chance to know if I hadn’t lost my job in Charlotte and driven to Minneapolis. So, this in-between time, and the meeting of new friends and old ones have done wonders to delight me. Who knows where I will be living next month. I’m on a kind of road trip, not sure what I’ll see around the next curve. I can tell you this—the journey is beautiful.