she keeps leaping...

We loved seeing Laura in Boston, and meeting the people she has been working with for the last ten months. They have become family, and we could tell, that as May progressed and the end of this assignment was coming closer, that it was getting hard. How do you say goodbye to the new life that you have created? And... where do you go from here?

She thought she was staying in Boston through the summer, but when that fell through (which may have produced my crazy thought) she had little time to figure out her options, and what might be the next best thing for her. Her new people jumped into limbo with her, and using their resources, worked to help her make a new plan.

God's timing is {always} perfect. Two days before we arrived in Boston, Laura left the land of limbo and found out she would be heading to New Orleans to serve with the Lutheran Young Adult Corp for 10 weeks. She is thrilled to have a new placement, a next adventure! And two days after we kissed her goodbye, she landed in NOLA to begin her new work.

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares
the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not harm you,
plans to give you a hope and a future."

Jeremiah 29:11

moving slowly into the new...

My mornings are still beginning by tree-light...the golden glow that reminds me of Christmas magic. I'm just not a January kind of girl - I'd rather linger in beautiful December. The majority of the world is starting fresh & clean with motivation I could only dream of, and my weary soul still seems to need the twinkling lights of promise and hope. It took me five days just to turn the page on my calendar, and my heart longer still... but I'm getting there.

Pretty soon I'll be bringing in the boxes and packing away the Christmas treasures, but for now, we are moving ahead one day at a time, readjusting to this quiet life.

a fair day... sunflowers and boots

Our weekend started on Thursday night... it has been a while since that happened.
We have spent seven months adjusting to Eric's Monday through Friday schedule, and while I cherished our every-other-three-day-weekend, we are making due just fine. {And now I am laughing at myself, because not only did he work this Saturday, he took me along to work, too!}

We had a quick preview of the county fair on Thursday night. Just a stroll through, and a snack here and there. The real fun was Saturday, when the whole fourth grade in the whole county is invited to spend the morning at the fair and have it all to themselves {with many, many sheriff's deputies!} We arrived at Eric's school just after 7am, and in the next hour we checked in and loaded his fourth grade Jr. Deputies onto two buses, and headed for the fair. They were so excited. For a lot of these kids, from this school, this is probably their first and only chance...

As we walked the fair loop a few times, I smiled as Eric would shoot out his hand for a fist bump, or be surrounded by kids, excited to see him. He was made for this, working in the schools... even his really tough school. If these kids can have a few friendly encounters with the law, perhaps it will do them more good than we can know in the long run. Planting seeds...

We survived the fair... with the help a barn roof over our head in the downpour, four baby bunnies. and sunflowers galore. Life is good.

And... it got a little better.
After a solid nap, we dressed up in our boots for an Upscale Hoedown. Good friends, great food, more sunflowers, and a whole lot of laughter. It was so much fun {that I almost forgot we "worked" the morning away!} and I even managed to get my husband to dance. That's what happens when he tells me he is ready to go, but still has a drink in his hand.

changing sky...

 We set out to walk the track last night... it may not have the allure of nature, but the breeze was blowing and the band was practicing on the football field.  As we walked, the sky came alive, and with every quarter mile, the view changed. New colors, different wisps of clouds, shimmering shades of light. I could hardly wait to make the next turn, and I picked up my pace to match the metronome ticking away on the field.

Change is not usually a welcome companion... staying right where I am often feels so right. But tonight, as I watch the sky, change seems like a gift.

The only thing that ever remains the same is God. He is forever unchanging.  I know better, but I sometimes fight to take that title for myself. And when I am along the path of change, I long to leave the limbo behind and just have the journey done. I want the lessons learned, the growing over, the uncertainty banished. I'd rather know than not know.

But He is teaching me, and I am learning. We are never not changing, we are not done growing. This life is journey, and I can count the laps as blessing, or I can curse them. But really, I couldn't. They are so beautiful. And what they are doing to me is even more so.  I can feel myself growing stronger and I can see the changes in me. My eyes are brighter, my heart is lighter, I am happier.

If God let me skip this path, just be changed without the work and the pain, I know I would miss the middle. Just as if the day went from light to night, without the glory of a sunset.