....And Exhale.

Driving around in my small town in Virginia is very different from driving in New York, which I now refer to as "back home".  While "the Apple" has it's crazy cab drivers and "entitled" pedestrians, Virginia has these long, windy back roads with our furry friends (of all sizes) that seem to make appearances at the most inopportune times.

Back home, although the roads are extremely busy and bumpy, I can drive without thinking because it's comfortable to me.  I dare to say that I'm a little negligent as a NY driver because this is the place that I know and everyone else is doing the same thing.

However, the challenge for me in my new place of residence is that I'm still learning my way around, so I find myself "pumping the brakes" pretty often.  I drive with extra care...extra precaution.  Those windy roads that I mentioned present anxieties of the unexpected simply because I'm not familiar with them.  When I first moved here, making my way around town, I would hold my breath while I was driving.  Sounds strange, right?  Don't worry, at some point, I do exhale, but it's usually at the end of my trip.

Anyway, my encouragement for you today is very simple. God knows what He's doing and He happens to be smarter than you.  I get it...life has happened and, in your opinion, it's hard to trust even Him sometimes.  And so, you find yourself gripping the wheel and driving because you know where you are trying to go and you know all of the short cuts.  Yes, I said the "short cuts"...we can all agree that at some point we felt like God was taking too long.

Today, as I'm slowly settling in this new place, I find that I actually enjoy the long, windy back roads with their unexpected twists and turns.  I even enjoy stopping for an occasional deer because it gives me something to look at and learn while I wait.  

Only God knows what's around the next turn for me. On the back roads (in my secret place), there's just Him and I in the vehicle He uses to get me where I'm going.  There's movement.  I'm nervous, but there's movement.  I get a little anxious because this new turn came up on me so quickly, but there's movement. 

So trust God and trust your journey...movement means you're still breathing.  The process hasn't killed you.  Be encouraged and keep stirring!

I'm Tired, And You Are...?

Here we are already a month in to 2015 and I remember, just as 2014 was rapping up, I got myself all "hyped up" about the year approaching.  But why?  Was it really because I was excited about the future or was it actually because I was so exhausted from the trial and error of the past years?

My friends, I made a promise that, as God would allow me the opportunity, I'd share my life with you candidly...transparently, so that you would be encouraged.  So, here is where I am in one word...TIRED.  I've been here before (as I'm sure most of you have as well), but I finally realize why I experience this recurring "season of exhaustion".

Don't you hate waiting?  I mean, even if you are the kind of person who is always late, you still despise having to wait on someone else.  That's a little hypocritical, don't you think?  We also hate getting our feelings hurt, we hate being sick...oh and I love this one...we can't stand "phony people"! There is a common thread here.  It seems that what we really hate is when the unexpected occurs in the middle of what we expect.

So what am I doing about the things I claim to "hate"? Well, I thought I was doing everything within my human capability to "...keep stirring" (as I always sign in my book when asked for an autograph). One day I realized that if I'm the one overwhelmed then I can't possibly be the one with the solution. EUREKA! I didn't know it all after all! 

Don't turn to temporal resolutions while, once again, expecting permanent changes. Seek out the Eternal One because it is only He who can bring finality to what seems like a vicious recurring cycle. You never know - He may show you that the root of the thing you hate might be found in you. At least, that was my hard pill. What's yours?