And So It Goes

Welcome to the new blog! Yes, you are on the right site.

Recently, I've been mulling over changing a few things on here since it's September, the month that marks the 2nd "blogiversary" of my public writing efforts. In the last few months, I've also been contemplating changing the name of the blog from "Life is a Journey" to something that is still in standing with the address - a life with a destination - yet opens up the focus from writing mainly about life happenings to including other topics of interest. It was tough coming up with a different title that encompassed everything I was looking for, but after a lot of brain racking and some suggestions, "Beyond What Is Seen" came about. More likely than not, there really won't be too big of a change as far as content and writing go, but you never know...:)

On a note of continuing the saga of my life:
The day after getting to Michigan, my boss called me up to inform me that our paperwork will be delayed (again) by a few more weeks, pushing our moving date to somewhere around the end of October.
I laughed, amused at how many times it's possible to hear the same story, then headed off to TX to visit my bro and his family for a few days.
Do I still get impatient? Yes, even when I've learned to enjoy the extra time. But learning trust and flexibility will prove to go far, I know. There's also definitely been added bonuses like getting to be at my cousin's wedding that I thought I'd have to miss out on, etc, etc.

Until next time! 

~ In the Morning

There's something about morning and all the freshness and promise of a new day that it brings that turns my heart heavenward a little more than any other part of the day. There's something about the quietness and lack of distraction that makes conversations with my Heavenly Father a little more close to my heart - something makes it easier to listen and more open to sharing... 

As the days have been getting shorter and the air a bit chillier, I've loved throwing on a sweater and hopping on my bike for a spin around the little country town I live in to add to our morning chats, when possible.
God teaches me so many things in so many different ways, not just in the mornings. Sometimes it's in the conversation with a coworker at the diner - reminders to take opportunities to let the light of Christ shine in every word, every action; reminders to take to heart the situations and stories of each priceless soul I come into contact with and to remember to live in Love. Other times, it's in the middle of a certain song on a Sunday morning - everything else fades into the background as He gently wispers the promise that He knows the beginning from the end and He is faithful to complete what He has started. It might be while working on the construction site with the brother-in-law, cooking dinner after a long day, hanging out with the cousin, driving with the bestie as we roll down the windows and turn up the music, or stopping beside the road on the drive home after a late shift just to look at all the stars; maybe it's in the conversation with that awesome person who "knows what it's like", in the middle of a circle of saints praying for my future and sending me on as I round the next bend in the road, or in overhearing the innocent conversation between my little niece and nephew in the backseat of the car saying, "I just can't wait to see Jesus."
But there really is something about mornings! A few days ago, as I was out riding my bike, I turned right onto the dirt road that took me a just a little outside of town to the small cemetary nestled in among a few tall trees. It might be weird to some people (actually, I think a lot of things I do or have opinions of are weird to a lot of people!), but I actually really like cemetaries. There's a song I used to listen to as a kid that talked about what kind of legacy we leave behind in the "line between the two". When you look at a gravestone, there is usually a name engraved on the top and two dates engraved beneath the name - with only one little line that separates those two dates. Sometimes there's a small epitaph as well but not much more than that. The question that particular song was asking, and one I ask myself on a daily basis, is this: What kind of life will that little line between two dates on your gravestone represent? And walking through cemetaries, looking at the names of the loved ones buried there, thinking about the lives represented on those stones, always helps put the big picture into perspective for me. Now, I could sit here and write a whole big blog post on legacies and choices, etc, but I'll let you think about that on your own and keep going with what I was saying about mornings and bike rides!

As I turned my bike into the small driveway, the sun in my face and the air gently moving the trees, I slowed down then came to a complete stop before reaching the gate to the fence that surrounds the cemetary. 
It was quiet. 
I could hear the birds chirping overhead and the field mice scurrying through the grass, but there were no cars going past, no people's voices, no train whistle - everything was quiet, and peaceful. 
"God, why can't it always be like this? In a place where even my brain slows down and I don't have a million things going through my head, where I can hear myself breathing because it's so calm - why can't it always be like this?" 
"I am with you, always."
Such a simple answer. One that was, sadly, almost missed.
Such a simple answer but one that speaks through every circumstance, every question, every worry, doubt, and fear!
It's the answer that promises, even when sorrows last through the night, joy comes with the morning. 
It's the peace that comforts the mother who has lost her son, the husband who has been diagnosed with a brain tumor, the broken soul who has forgotten the reason for living. 
It's the hope that comes when we cry out with confusion and chaos surrounding us on every side, when friends turn against us, when everything we thought had meaning has been stripped away. 
It's the joy in a newborn cry, a wedding day, or Christmas morning. 
"I am with you, always." Not just some of the time. Not just in big moments. But even in the mundane, He is with us. 

On this morning, today, I begin packing up my things and prepare to leave ND tomorrow. It's bittersweet, understandably so. A cousin is getting married in IN this weekend, and since the preliminary processing for our immigration paperwork is almost complete, I'll be visiting family and friends in MI until final processing is through and we can make the move down to the Dominican - hopefully in a few weeks! God is so continually faithful and I look forward to how He works out the final few details - as well as every detail from then on, of course :)   


Weeping may last for the night, but joy comes with the morning. Psalm 30:5
And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Matthew 28:20