Solitude, China Revisited and Companions-along-the-way

Today I'm grateful for a quiet morning of solitude...sometimes even fun jaunts to run errands can be tiring. So I'm glad to have a lovely pocket of quiet time today.Thank you Lord for this beautiful morning, for the gentle breeze rustling through my tree and the sunlight warming its way through my window...the perfect morning to just "be".

I'm grateful that, even though the China thing might not work out and we'll probably lose our depost, we found out before we paid off the balance! And I'm grateful for a faith that tells me there's usually a good reason for things working out differently...remember Cuba 2006 - we couldn't get any bookings to work no matter how hard we tried, which was very unusual. So I listened to my gut and we didn't go. It turned out that my brother Gary was hospitalized and eventually died right during the time that we would have been in Cuba. I would have been crushed beyond imagination if I hadn't been able to be there for him. But because I listened to that inner voice, I was able to be there to cradle his head in my arms when he died. And I wouldn't trade that precious time with him for anything (except to have him back with us). Thank You Lord that I'm learning to listen and trust that everything really does work out for good...perhaps there's somewhere else that will be even better for us at this time...I look forward to seeing what You have in store for us.

I'm grateful for all the tough journeying and scrabbling through muck and mire of the past few years, because I love who I've become now. Does that sound narcissistic? I hope not. There's a genuine joy and elation in my heart to feel new energy, empowerment and healthy sense of well-being that have emerged from these very brutal stretches of road I've had to travel lately. One day at a time works well. Thank you Lord for being here with me every step and moment along this treacherous way, for sitting in the dirt with me in those moments when I didn't have the energy to keep going, for reminding me in so many wondrous ways that I am never alone. Stay close, we're still fumbling through more of this fall-out rubble...I'm so grateful for Your presence and sustenance.