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Posts Tagged God
- The six men of Diamond Rio – Brian Prout, Marty Roe, Dan Truman, Jimmy Olander, Dana Williams, and Gene Johnson
Beautiful Mess chronicles the story of a group of six very different individuals who later became the country music sensation known as Diamond Rio. Highlighting the varied backgrounds of these men, their journey together as a group becomes even more inspiring as the reader discovers the obstacles they overcame to get to that point, right up until they changed their name and introduced their first single through Arista Records in February of 1991. That song, Meet in the Middle jumped to the Billboard number one song in the country, and vaulted the group into the hearts of millions of fans before even the members of Diamond Rio were ready for that level of attention.
As they triumphed with additional hits stretching out over two decades, such as One More Day and Beautiful Mess, they would grow to appreciate the decisions they made early on as a group that charted the course for their later success. They focused on their commitment to each other, the kind of music and lifestyle they would represent and their desire to reach out to others. As their list of accomplishments and awards grew, so did the list of those who benefitted from their success, notably through their partnership with Big Brothers, Big Sisters organizations across the country.
I enjoyed this book because it depicted Diamond Rio as one large, extended family. If one member suffered a hardship or tragedy, the others likewise shared in their pain.
Whether or not you are a fan of country music, if you are a fan of loyalty, overcoming hardships, parents who recognize and feed the talent they see in their children, and believing that God can be trusted to lead down unexpected and thrilling paths, you must read this amazing story.
Designed as an easy read for teen-aged girls, Redefining Beautiful takes an uplifting view of the issues most important at that age: boys, beauty, fashion, popularity, and the struggle for self-esteem that attempts to undermine any success with any of the above. Interspersed with snippets of Bible stories as well as inspirational insights from Max Lucado, this book brings a three-pronged approach to life as a Christian teen girl searching for acceptance in a world that tells her she will never belong.
Recognizing that the self image of any girl is largely based on her relationship (or lack thereof) with her own father, the book points the reader toward the acceptance and unconditional love of a heavenly father. With this as a background, the author stresses the changes a true relationship with God makes in both the inward and outward appearance.
My favorite tips include the creative use of Vaseline as a beauty accessory and allowing Facebook to identify the depth of the reader’s own bond with God.
The closing chapter invites the reader to dig deep into their own past to put in writing what she may want for her future, promising that the end of the story is always best written by God himself.
Girls of any age need this reminder from time to time. Therefore, this book comes highly recommended.
Tommy and I have been attending a thirteen week course on Financial Peace, taught by Dave Ramsey. The video presentations are interesting, and offer the inspiration needed to pursue habits that should come naturally through common sense. However, if that were the case, it would not be necessary to take this class.
Don’t spend money that you don’t have. Control the future your money so that it does not control you. The borrower is servant to the lender.
Such simple sentences, yet so hard to convert into daily habits.
What sticks with me week after week are the stories that Dave shares of the common characteristics from some of his millionaire friends. They pay cash, plan what to buy in advance, and aren’t willing to live with buyer’s remorse. They don’t fall into the traps of credit, excessive debt, and endless mortgages. If money is received, it is invested wisely and not blown over a weekend.
Great amounts of money did not just happen to these people. They managed well when they had little, and were soon rewarded with more.
It boils down to one simple sentence. If you want to be rich, act like a rich person…
I have heard the same regarding the battle of weight loss. It is no secret how it is done. Eat less. Eat foods that are good for us. Exercise more and take care of the body entrusted to us. It is the only one we will ever own.
Again, it is simplified to one sentence. If you want to be skinny, take on the actions of a skinny person…
Perhaps this works in all areas of our lives.
If you want to grow closer to God, follow the examples of those who are already there. Study more so you will know how he works; spend time alone with him; trust him with the little things so that you can recognize his power with the big things.
Want a better marriage? Ask couples who have been married for over 50 years and they will tell you to treat each action as an investment into the future. You reap what you sow.
So now, I want to be a writer. I guess that means I should act like one.
With that desire comes the responsibility to sit for hours alone in my chair. I have no idea how long it will take before success can be measured in a way that the rest of the world can understand. But for now, one word at a time, I am investing in my future. Not just my own, but hopefully yours as well.
Music plays in the background as I chart a path to bring you, my future readers, to this secret place I have discovered.
Once the journey is complete, you will love it here. I promise.
True Writing…
Oct 20
To write is to speak using only the voice that lies deep within your soul. It exposes your deepest thoughts to all the world, and once the words are released, there is no way to take them back. It takes a brave person to lay it all on the altar in this way, knowing that not everyone will appreciate or understand your unprotected words.
True writing, then, encompasses the next step of releasing your words to the world. Most of us have spent years with our own thoughts, spilling them onto the nearest blank sheet of paper, but it can’t stop there. In order for our words to touch the lives of others, we must learn to lay them on the altar, and trust that God will put them in the hands, and eventually the hearts, of those that need them most.
August 25, 1984.
Twenty-five years? How is this even possible?
Still, somehow, here we are today.
Looking back over our wedding pictures, just after being introduced as husband and wife, as we tiptoed down the aisle into a world we were in no way prepared for, I have to stop and wonder what we would have done if we had known then what our future would hold. We were as clueless as we appeared to be, but maybe that is the only way it could have worked.
We soon found that life has a way of taking you to places that you never thought you would go. Difficult places. Rocky places. Places that leave scars. Places where your only goal can be to get through it. Places that don’t leave room to worry about what everyone else is thinking. Places that run like a roaring river and you are tossed in, leaving you to crash against the rocks and hold on until you can find each other on the other side.
Yes, life has a way of taking you through places where the odds are stacked against you, but these are the kind of places that lead you to your knees, and then later, back to each other.
But the opposite is also true.
Just when you least expect it, life has a way of bringing you through places that are much more wonderful than anything you could have ever dreamed.
It really is a perfect balance between the two extremes. Along the way, the path is filled with good days and bad days; gut wrenchingly painful days and deliriously happy days; proud moments and moments filled with shame; questioning your existence moments and defining your purpose moments; keeping your head above water moments and flying like an eagle moments.
It’s impossible to put into words all that we’ve shared, but that won’t stop me from trying – job changes; hard work; promotions; budget cuts; stranded vehicles; buying our first house; broken refrigerators, and really anything else electronic that you can think of; new roofs that no one noticed; the birth of our three miraculous, yet unexpected, children; bad financial decisions; stolen purses; the heartbreaking divorce of a few close “couple” friends; seasons of change – always before we were ready; yard sales that forced us to come face to face with a lifetime of accumulated junk and wondered if this was all we had to show for our years of hard work; baby steps that led to driving teenagers way before we could afford them; vacations we couldn’t afford; rarely used kitchens and eating out way too much; not enough time around the table; being the proudest, and sometimes loudest, spectators at our kids basketball or soccer games/dance recitals/cheerleading competitions/Disney parades; job transfers to states that are too far away; the loss of all four of our grandmothers (who can be seen standing together in one of our wedding pictures); graduations and the wide open choices that follow; way too many car wrecks, followed by way too many insurance adjustments; first pet – Pickles the Pug; the death of Pickles the Pug; do-it-yourself home improvements that always seemed to make it worse; birthday parties; slumber parties; airsoft gun parties; illegal fireworks; bicycles with flat tires; dangerous neighborhoods; church cookouts; crazy VBS skits; mission trips; sunrises and sunsets; autumn leaves falling over kids on shaky bikes; the baptism of all three kids at Fall Creek Falls, performed by their Daddy; tear-jerking phone calls from our kids; watching them make choices and then live with the consequences; too many surgeries; eleven days in ICU; malignant tumor; waiting for test results; and finally, learning to live each day to the fullest anyway, in spite of it all.
For us, the past twenty-five years have been just that – day to day living and finding a way to come out on top, but somehow still together. I guess the only real secret to finding true happiness is to know that it’s a daily choice that we make, and can only come when we realize that God lies in both the good and the bad.
It’s not about arriving at a destination, but rather in recognizing that if you missed the journey, you missed it all.
So bring on the next twenty-five years – slowly, one day at a time, filled with these people and as many God-designed moments as possible.
If 25 years is the silver anniversary, then ‘happily ever after’ must be discovered in the silver lining…
Opening my Eyes…
Aug 8
I have this wonderful new friend named Alison. She is the kind of person who tells it like it is; and with just a few words, she can literally stop me in my tracks. I’ve learned more from her in the short time that I’ve known her than I take the time to learn from most of my lifelong friends. She has taught me everything from how not to take things for granted to how to laugh at myself. She isn’t afraid to dive right in and try new things, and lets nothing stand in the way if her mind is made up to do something.
Alison is a lot like my own kids, who are now wonderful adults. They are young, single, and trying to figure out what paths to take next in their lives. They have big questions, and have figured out that the answers must be discovered within them. They are beginning to grasp that they are much tougher than they ever realized.
There is one small difference, however.
Alison is totally blind, and has been her entire life. But, she would never let her blindness define her. As a matter of fact, what defines her is the way she has overcome it.
The more I get to know her, the more she makes me stop and think. One time, we were discussing clouds, when it dawned on me that she had never seen them. The harder I tried to describe them, the more I realized that my words most likely meant nothing to her.
The sky is blue, but what is blue? The clouds are white and fluffy, but what does that mean? They float across the sky like they are in a hurry to get somewhere. The sun peeks out from time to time and you can see the rays reaching all the way down to the earth, almost as if you could reach out and touch them.
My descriptive words meant nothing to her since she had never seen it before. Of course, that doesn’t stop me from weak attempts to portray our surroundings for her, but I have yet to figure out how to describe a color without using other colors.
Now I understand that old line to the song, ‘If a picture’s worth a thousand words…’ because if the truth is known, no amount of words can replace the pictures that Alison hasn’t seen. But that won’t stop her from enjoying the beautiful world around her. She can still feel the breeze, or the sun shining on her face, or the rain on her skin.
Alison tells me stories of calling a cab and then waiting outside for two hours for its arrival. When she called back, she was told that the cab driver had been circling the parking lot, and saw Alison standing against the wall, but didn’t realize she was blind and couldn’t see the cab.
Nashville has a program called AccessRide, which will transport Alison just about anywhere she needs to go. This works well for her, as long as she stays within the parameters, which require her to make an appointment at least 24 hours in advance, and then she is given a window in which they will arrive. This usually means that she is very early, or very late; neither of which she has any control.
Alison has applied for a Seeing Eye dog. Her first application was denied, as they told her that she needed to improve her ‘crossing the street’ skills before she could give commands to a dog. She has worked nonstop to improve in this area, even though the streets in her neighborhood are quite busy. She will try again next year, and I’m sure she will be bringing home a dog meant just for her very soon.
As I think of all she does, I continue to be amazed by the things I do with ease every day. Though simple to me, they become more difficult in her situation, but you never hear her complain. To do laundry, she has to go downstairs in her apartments. With a smirk, she admits to washing all of her clothes together, but what twenty-something person doesn’t? She says she cleans only when she knows she will have company. Not only does that sound familiar, it causes me to marvel at how she can clean when she can’t see the dirt.
She is a whiz with her cell phone and computer. Though she has a feature on both that read her messages out loud to her, the keyboards are regular keyboards and she types much faster than I do. She multi-tasks like no one I’ve ever met, and gets very excited when she receives a message from someone.
She attends college, and has an instructor that helps her at the beginning of the year to find the best path from class to class, as well as where to meet the bus and more importantly, where the vending machines can be found. She isn’t sure what she wants to do with her life, but longs to work where she has lots of contact with people.
When we are together, Alison gently holds my elbow and lets me lead her. I am still learning to do this well, as I steer her around the obstacles in our path. I finally recognized that she doesn’t know when we have a lot of room to get by, and when we need to squeeze it in a little. Sometimes, we now even bump into people just for fun.
I hope my Alison stories continue forever, but this is the most valuable lesson I’ve learned so far.
Alison has no choice but to find someone who knows where they are going and to follow them as closely as possible.
I would give this same advice to my own kids, and anyone else who is willing to listen.
God places people in our lives to help steer us in the right direction. We would all end up in a better place if we would find those people headed where we want to be, and hold on for dear life.
Alison was never meant to face this life alone.
And the truth is that neither are we.
42% Complete. . .
May 23
Birthdays. They become our way of measuring life, or so it seems. The world tells me that I’m middle aged, and that I should be feeling older with each step I take.
Whatever. Though the mirror tells me a few things have changed, I refuse to let the mirror have the last word. I will just look at it less often, so it won’t have all the power in our relationship.
Same thing with the bathroom scale. Don’t ask. Don’t tell.
The truth is that on the inside, I still feel like the same girl I used to be when I would sit on the hood of my Mom’s car and watch the moon at night. The moon always knew what to do with itself, and I wanted to be just like it when I grew up. I wanted the world to notice what I did. But, even if they didn’t, I would still show up and do my job every night.
As a young girl, I couldn’t wait to find my calling and spend the rest of my life doing whatever it was God had planned just for me.
But here I sit, just past my 42nd birthday, still wondering those same things. I now realize that life is more about recreating yourself as needed and taking leaps of faith along the way. It’s about the journey; not the destination.
The way I figure it, I’m just getting started. My kids have grown up before my very eyes, and have become amazing adults. The world is a better place because they are in it. I love my husband and can’t wait to see what the future holds for all of us. After some major changes in our lives, it seems that all doors are wide open. And that is a great feeling.
So, I prefer to look at it like this. I’m not a ‘has been,’ but rather a ‘gonna be.’
So look out world! I’m 42% complete and have a long way to go.
Guess I’d better get started.
We need each other. . .
Apr 28
A strange thing happened to me a few weeks ago, snapping me out of my preoccupied state of mind and forcing me to take a long hard look at the tougher side of life.
It was a Sunday afternoon, and I was returning an item to the local Kmart on Harding and Nolensville. Still in my church clothes from that morning, I was walking back to my van and thinking to myself how much this part of town had changed and how I was ready to get out of there.
With my head down and reaching for my keys, I was startled by someone who had stepped in front of me.
“Hey, I remember you. Did you go to Antioch High School?”
“Yes,” I answered, halfway smiling and halfway trying to figure out the name of the girl who stood in front of me.
She was wearing clothes that were too big for her that had a few rips in them, and was carrying a large pink shoulder bag. I couldn’t tell what was in the bag, but she kept it close to her side at all times, as if it contained everything she owned.
She told me her name, and asked for mine. Nervously, I gave her my first name only, and she said, “Great. I was just praying for God to send someone to help me, and now here you are!”
Yes. There I was. Mmm, now what?
In my mind I was going back to a lesson learned at Winterfest, a Christian teen retreat, back in February in Gatlinburg. The theme for that weekend was to “Love God; Love Others.” During one of the breaks from the seminar and worship that was going on inside, they had secretly hired an actor to portray a homeless person to see how these “Christians” would react.
I personally didn’t see this person sitting beneath a “welcome” sign with a sign of his own asking for help. But if I had, chances are that I would do what I have done in the past – pretended not to see him or hope that our eyes didn’t meet.
Don’t get me wrong – I try to help people, or so I thought. But usually, it’s within some sort of program at church or by sending money through the mail or calling in during a telethon. I suppose I would do whatever possible, as long as it didn’t put me in any type of danger.
The teens on this retreat responded much differently than many of us more seasoned, and somewhat cynical, adult chaperones would have done. Many teens gave money; some gave food; some wrote scriptures on a napkin and took the time to pray with this “homeless” man.
Isn’t that what the Bible says we should do? Apparently it does in those young and hip teen Bibles, but what about mine?
All of this was going through my mind as I spoke with this girl from high school. As she told stories of both her brother and father committing suicide, being in and out of drug rehab, and losing custody of her kids, it was clear that her life had turned out much differently than mine. She climbed into the passenger seat of my mini-van, talking 90 miles a minute, and quoting more scripture than I could have ever done.
She said a friend was trying to help her get a job, and she was actually supposed to start the next day. She needed money for a bus pass and a TN state ID card, (no driver’s license) and a little food if I had any left over.
We ended up at a Family Dollar store near where she was staying with this friend. I told her to get what she needed, and while she looked through the store, I escaped into a corner to text my kids and tell them where I was in case anything happened to me.
She saw my phone and asked to use it, calling her friend to tell him where she was and that she would be back soon. Apparently he didn’t believe her, and thought she may be out doing something she wasn’t supposed to be doing. He wanted her to go to church that night. She yelled at him and said she was just ”hanging out with her friend from high school” and that he should trust her. How ironic, I thought, knowing for certain that this was the first conversation the two of us had ever had.
Hanging up on him, she grabbed my arm and asked me a few questions about myself, never letting me finish any of the answers. She did say she needed clothes for her new job, so we moved to the few clothing items they had. She quickly swayed back and forth as she walked, fidgeting with her hair as she scurried through the store.
We found a couple of items that would fit her tiny body, and then she startled me again by pulling up her shirt there in the store to reveal that she also needed undergarments.
“Yes, let’s get what you need,” I said, helping her pull her shirt down.
Filling her basket with toiletry items and a few snacks, she was thrilled and said this was one of the best days she could remember.
She asked to use my phone again, and made arrangements to meet her friend at a Walgreens nearby. I was quietly relieved because this would keep me from going alone to a house in an unfamiliar neighborhood, and would let me use the ATM inside to get a little cash.
She quickly got into a white pick up truck with her friend and introduced me to him. As it turned out, this friend who was helping her was on food stamps, and they were heading to the grocery to figure out what they needed for the week.
I had been somewhat speechless the entire time we spent together, partly because I was listening, but mostly because I had no idea what to say.
So, as she was hugging me good-bye, I managed to look her in the eye and tell her that God knew she was valuable and he would always be with her.
And then she was gone.
I haven’t been able to stop thinking about this girl since that time, perhaps because she served as a spotlight that revealed some things in myself I’m not sure how to deal with.
Would I have helped her if she hadn’t told me I was an answer to her prayers? Am I willing to help others even when it stretches me way out of my comfort zone? Why did her life turn out so differently than mine? What did I do to deserve a happy ending?
It will take me awhile to come up with the answers to my own questions. But in the meantime, I have figured this much out for sure.
In high school, there are unwritten rules that identify the popular kids, the athletic kids, band kids, the wild kids, and it all goes well as as long as everyone stays where they belong. Right?
But, 25 years down the road, long after everyone has scattered and tried to find their own way to the finish line, it seems that we are all really the same. We love God and our families. We wonder how our kids can be in high school when it seems that we should still be there ourselves. Some have found great success in faraway places, and some have stayed close to home. All have been struck by the realities of adulthood, and when faced with tragedy or pain, have been somewhat amazed at our own ability to overcome.
Maybe we are all stronger than we realized back then.
And then, maybe there are still a few who weren’t as strong; who weren’t able to overcome on their own. But the truth is that they too love God and their families, and are still trying their way to the finish line.
Maybe it’s not too late for her. I pray that she finds her happy ending.
And I’m thankful that for the rest of us, as we tiptoe into what the world would refer to as being “middle aged,” we realize that in the best of times and the worst of times, we all really need each other.
I guess we needed each other all along.
To quote a famous actor (Tommy Grimes, actually) “I could tell you all that happened in a nutshell, but it’s gonna take awhile.”
So, to summarize and shorten my reports from Michigan, I squeezed them all into one blog and removed all unnecessary words. Our story begins with me, Malloree and Crystal (who was in Nashville to celebrate her birthday) loading up our van in the middle of the night, in search of a life in Michigan.
January 22, 2009 – 2:00 a.m.
“Weren’t we supposed to leave 8 hours ago?” Can’t see out the back window. Windshield wipers not working. Bummer. Where’s Bobo? Frozen rivers. 65 mph in Ohio. Surprise – it’s Crystal! Baskin Robbins mannequins. Shivering ice sculptures. “I need backs to my shoes.” “We have to rent a motel room for our dog, but people can stay there too.” Cleaning lady takes dog. Bobo can’t figure out how to go in the snow. This could be bad.
First day at Rochester Church. Patrick Mead. Pick your verb. Do something. I like that. Long drive. Perhaps driving is my verb. Chris Lindsey. A familiar face. Josh Graves. Cute little pregnant wife Kara. Steckel. For some reason, this feels like home. But not to Malloree. Pray for her. Restaurants hiding behind snow mountains. Smoky Bowling. We stink.
School appointment. Admission test. No school uniforms. Swimming pools. Salem Rocks? 60 school buses in 4 rows – make sure you get on the right one. 6 inches of snow on the first day. Quit honking at me – I can’t see the lanes. Left turn = turn right then make a U-turn. OK. I think I’m getting it. Bumpy roads give you more traction.
To the airport. Crystal’s gone. School starts at 7: 13, Really? Not as bad as I expected, but not good either. I don’t have an accent. You do. Frozen curls – extra crispy. Locker won’t open. “Do they think I’m poor?” Ice bruise on the knee. Lonely lunches.
3 people. One king size bed. Mmm. Just a few more days. Apartment lease for one year. Is this really happening? Yikes! No furniture. Inflatable mattresses with holes. Snow covered poop garden on the patio. Oh well, at least he figured it out. Cable guy? You want cable hooked up to a 13 inch TV? It’s a long story. No Papa Johns? Cursing DJ’s. Where’s some clean music?
Back to work for a week. “Say goodbye to Mama.” Tears won’t stop. Can’t see out the windshield. No wait, my eyes are swollen shut. Driving anyway. God, you’ve got me still. Speak to me, please? Ohio again. Ugh. There’s Big Jesus at MM 29 on I75. He’s 62′ tall and coming out of the water, but I can’t decide if he makes me feel better or worse. Tired of being strong.
Lonely in Nashville. House full of furniture, but it’s no longer home. No cable or internet. What am I supposed to do? Think? How about if I play the same Michael W. Smith CD over and over again. If you dance when you are alone, is it really dancing? God this is your house. Send your buyer. Work. Work. Work. Sleep. Take out seats. Don’t get tired until all the work is done. Yeah, right. Load up again. Is this the plan?
Michigan is flat. Back to apartment, but is this home? Reunited. Time to go. On the road, 50 mph winds. Tornodo watches? Could this help me get home faster? How am I supposed to text and drive like this? Hey Truckers. It’s me again. I hope I smell better than you do.
Winter Break from School. To Gatlinburg for Winterfest. Yay! Overnight in Lexington. Why don’t they sell any Vanderbilt stuff up here? Oh well, at least they understand us. Bobo, you are going to Knoxville. 6000 teens never sounded so good. You can’t worry and worship at the same time, so worshipping is great. These are my people. Secret Fudge Club. I drove 9 hours for this fudge, and Winterfest too, I guess. Jeff Walling. Love God. Love People. Even in Michigan. OK.
Tommy to the Airport. Knoxville Airport is in Maryville. Who knew? “Smallest plane I’ve ever been on. Get me off of this thing.” To Chicago. Then Michigan. Alone. Again.
Mal on Antioch Bus with her peeps. Don’t forget Bobo. He survived. Beautiful drive. The mountains add a lot. Cookeville Walmart. Back to Nashville. Home early. Memorial Reception for Cousin Doug Wyatt. So sad, but great to be with family. Aunt Jan is coming. Good, I get to go see people.
Minor surgery for Mom. Everything OK. Feel better soon. Thankful for Aunt Jan.
Work. Work. Work. TSSAA Tournament. My favorite event. 8500 people in 4 days. There’s Tim McGraw & Faith Hill. All in a day’s work. Feet hurt. No sleep. Heart attack man is OK. Great media coverage. Whew! Power outage. Mallee making the rounds with her friends in Nashville. Winter break was perfect for her.
Crystal and Andrew – time to come home, Your year is up in Orlando. Rental truck. Tow dolly pulling Andrew’s car. Caravan = Andrew in truck, then Hayley, then Crystal. Raining. Hydroplaning. Georgia. Ugh. Almost wrecking with 15 other cars. Very scary. God wants them alive. Still. He has a plan for these people he created. Told you so. I love him for that. Thank you.
Drive all night. No sleep for them. Wonder where they got that? Home safely, but is this home? Unload the truck. Thanks Tuper and Kyle. Andrew sleeping in the floor. Been awake for over 30 hours. Put stuff in garage. This year in Florida has been great for them. They are adults, and beautiful ones at that. They have taken care of each other. I envy them. What happens next? Just don’t stop dreaming.
Antioch Church. These are our people. Alison’s baptism. Amazing. Hugs and tears all around. Lunch at Logans, even though we don’t have time. Wouldn’t miss it for the world. Thanks for coming Tuper, Brittan, Sherry. We know you want to be a Grimes. Sorry. Hugs. Goodbye again. 2 Grimes in Nashville. 3 headed back to Michigan. Is this the plan?
Load up the truck. Should I take my bike? Why? On to Michigan. Weren’t we supposed to leave 8 hours ago? Bobo – time to go. It doesn’t matter where. Finally, some furniture. 4:30 in the morning? It’s freezing, and so windy, but no snow. Malloree, you can miss swimming today and go in a little later. Colds for everyone. Ugh.
The couch makes a big difference. A few pictures on the wall. I love these people. We need some friends. What day is it? I haven’t slept enough for it to be Tuesday already. I can go out looking horrible and no one up here knows it. Or do they? A pot of chili. Girl Scout cookies. Do they have Girl Scouts in Michigan? Maybe this will help it feel like home.
A few more days. Two weeks this time? Hard to leave. Back to Nashville. Wrapping up a job I will miss. Making time for friends and family I was too busy for before. Renting out our house. Please? Massive moving sale. I get to do that in my free time? Seriously?
Getting tired. Trusting God to work out futures for Crystal and Andrew, so of course I’d better trust him to work ours out as well. If God waits for us to act before he reveals his plan, then here we are “acting” all over the country. Hello?
Busier than ever. Need time to write my story. It’s all in my head, but it will matter, I promise. Waiting to fulfull my purpose. But in the meantime, I need to hit the road again. 85 hours of driving so far. Really? Maybe it’s the only way to keep me still for 10 hours at a time. Is this the plan?
If so, then thank you. And I’ll see you again soon. Can’t wait to see what you have in store.
