Beginning of a New Journey

There is a sliding glass door that leads to a small, wooden patio off the kitchen of the house. From this porch I can see the mountains, giant and peaceful. Today the weather is mild, partly cloudy with haze gently resting on the peaks. The wind is blowing the trees and wind chimes that fill the yards of this neighborhood. Birds are singing and so is a distant ice cream truck. I can't believe I'm here. And even more unbelievable is the fact that I'm going to be here for a season and a half. Summer and fall in Colorado. It almost feels like I am living someone else's life, but this is my own. I could have never imagined that one day I would be graduated from college, married, and house sitting out West - and yet here we are! I guess I hadn't really planned on going to Bethel either. And I hadn't planned on going on a missions trip with Moraine Church. And I hadn't really planned on wanting to live so close to family. I had imagined graduating with an unmasked sense of freedom - nothing tying me down. (I hadn't even considered school loans!!) In my mind's eye, I could go anywhere, with any purpose, for any amount of time. Now I realize that things I may have label "restrictive" back then, I consider a great joy now. I had the opportunity to go to a great school and I don't regret it, so the loans are merely a reminder that I must trust God to provide. I didn't think I would care about living close to my family, but now I am glad that there is a hole in my heart missing them very much. I hadn't planned on getting married so young, but now I have the unique opportunity to live these young years (and old years!) with my best friend. So I guess planning on following God's leading is the best plan to chose because he brings good out of unforeseeable (and often unexpected) circumstances. As long as God is with me on this little porch at the base of the mountains, today is a good day. I have great hope for tomorrow too.