Simple things

I love Fall. I get nostalgic when the weather gets cooler and my favorite things (pumpkin lattes, apple orchards, colored leaves, and sweaters) return. A few days ago I got to sit in a coffee shop with my hubby and a friend and enjoyed my first pumpkin latte of the season :) While we were enjoying I noticed the cups and the writing that covered them. The question was asked, "What do you stay awake for?" and the cups were covered with answers. Some of my favorites follow:

"Riding a tandem bike with my love--Margaret."

"Making the best snow fort in town"

"The pitter-patter of little feet as the sun rises."

"The hint of summer at the end of March."

"Stepping foot on all seven continents!"

"Dancing the beats that move my feet."

"Mom's homemade apple crisp."

Whether it's good food, friends, family, nature or music, there is something to be enjoyed in every day. Caribou Coffee may have phrased it a little differently than I would have thought but the question remains, "What do you stay awake for?" What are the little things, even the simple things in life that make each day meaningful? I'm learning that those simple things are often what play at our heartstrings and calm our minds down to be thankful for today. There is freedom to be found in thankfulness.

Thank you Caribou Coffee for this reminder. And now I want to ask you, faithful readers, "What do you stay awake for?" 

My list would be,

Apple orchards on a crisp fall day.

The smell of a campfire and gooey marshmallows roasted over it.

Exploring parks, cities and towns with the hubby.

Fresh produce from our garden.

A good cup of coffee. 

Long talks with close friends. 

Sunrise in the Rockies. 

After the Airport

This story blessed my face off today. Not only because someday we hope to adopt as well but because those "after the airport" days happen in every stage of life.

After the Airport

All things new

What do you do when your heart breaks into pieces? How do you keep walking forward when everything in your heart wants to run back?

These are the days I find myself wanting to pick up the pieces of an old life, a life that seemed more comfortable or easy. I find myself staring at the past and trying to figure out how these pieces fit back together. A memory here, a song there, a location or church or friend and yet it's not the same. I can live in the past, wishing for a memory that defined a younger me or a happier me or a less stressed me. I can look to the future and envision an escape, a hope that if something changes that the world will be right again.

What I've realized is that in our hurts life isn't meant to be put back together in a neat package. The past is over for a reason; the Lord tells Lot's wife not to look back and wish for a purpose. "16 When he hesitated, the men grasped his hand and the hands of his wife and of his two daughters and led them safely out of the city, for the LORD was merciful to them. 17 As soon as they had brought them out, one of them said, “Flee for your lives! Don’t look back, and don’t stop anywhere in the plain! Flee to the mountains or you will be swept away!” Genesis 19:16-17 Luke recounts in saying, "31 On that day no one who is on the housetop, with possessions inside, should go down to get them. Likewise, no one in the field should go back for anything. 32 Remember Lot’s wife!33 Whoever tries to keep their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life will preserve it." Luke 17:31-33

I've found the Lord to say, "Put down the pieces, they don't fit together anymore. Give the pieces to me, I'm going to make something new." Letting go is never easy, each and every time it's with tears that I once again hand my plans, my past, my future, back to the Lord. As I write this I sit with tears streaming down my face as I again am faced with hurt and am asked to let go and trust my Father.

Tonight I'm praying for the promise of Isaiah to be true in my life. "Behold, the former things have come to pass, and new things I now declare;before they spring forth I tell you of them." Isaiah 49:2 and, "Behold, I am doing a new thing;now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert." Isaiah 43:19

I've found that freedom lies neither in past nor future in our lives. Freedom is found in a different story line completely. The pieces of what once were or might someday be, "me", can only make sense in a larger puzzle. Some of me might have to break to fit into a new picture but I know that it will be far more beautiful than any I've made before.

May there be ways in the wilderness of your life and rivers in the desert of your heart. It's only in letting go that we find freedom in His story.