3. Restaurant Hopping with friends (kind of like a progressive dinner – you meet at a restaurant and hang out until you think they are tired of you, then move on to the next. For us that usually involves three restaurants – Dinner, Dessert then a drink or snack at the third one.) This is a good thing to do with friends from a distance – you can meet halfway and have a nice visit.
4. A quiet lazy day at home (wearing pajamas all day, optional).
7. The stained glass window from the church I attended as a teenager
8. Taking drives, destination unknown
9. Chocolate – Ruth Hunt Candies Melt-Aways are pretty awesome. I just discovered these last year about a half hour from where I live. This is dangerous.
“The cross sheds light for souls who stumble in darkness.” –Sadie
Are you afraid of the Light?
As a young child I was afraid of the dark, so my parents found a nightlight that said “What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee.” (Psalm 56:3). I would lie in bed at night repeating that verse to calm my fears. It helped me learn to trust instead of be afraid of the dark.
I love light. To this day, if I am home alone at night there will be light. And during the daylight I love to open the curtains and let light flood the room. Sunlight gives me a renewed sense of hope and lifts my gloomy moods. For me sunlight is like a promise from God.
Once during a worrisome time I was setting by the window praying. As I finished my prayer a shaft of sunlight broke through caressing my cheek. It was as if I’d been touched by God and he was saying all is well. Many times God has used sunlight to remind me that he is near. It’s one of the ways we communicate with each other. I like to think of it as a love letter from God.
As wonderful as those experiences are, sadly there are many times spiritually when I stay in the dark. I know I need the light, but I stay in the shadows ignoring the truth. It may be fear of what God is asking me to do, or rebellion over a sin that needs to be confessed. Spiritual darkness creates a rift between me and God. It zaps my strength and hurts my witness. I find myself much like Adam and Eve trying to hide from God. The more I hide the more I become afraid of the light and what it will reveal. Living in the dark is a miserable existence. The only way out is confession and repentance.
Thankfully, I have a loving savior who doesn’t give up on me. He tenderly woos me back to the light. He reminds me that I belong to him and once again I stand at the foot of the cross where he shines his light of truth into my heart and lovingly restores me. I stand in his embrace, cross light flooding my soul, and wonder that I was ever afraid of the light.
“For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord.” Ephesians 5: 8-10
“Why do you go away? So that you can come back. So that you can see the place you came from with new eyes and extra colors. And the people there see you differently, too. Coming back to where you started is not the same as never leaving.” ― Terry Pratchett, A Hat Full of Sky
Stained glass from church I attended as a teenager; you can see my parents house through the Little House Window. When a door closes a window opens.
Some of you have heard me talk about The Little House. It sits next door to my parents house, in a small town that nestles close to Eastern Kentucky. This is a house that we almost purchased in 2007 when we moved from Tennessee to Louisville. It never sold exactly – family members of the owner purchased it and rented it out. Three neighbors later my Dad was tired of not knowing who his neighbors would be. He also wanted back access to his property and access to a garage. So, long story short, we worked out a deal with my Dad and in 2010 he bought one of the most expensive driveways ever. As far as house prices go it was a really great deal! So, it is now our little house. It has been our weekend getaway. Soon it will be our home.
Yes, you heard me correctly, we are moving home. Sometimes you know in your gut what needs to happen, but you can’t make the decision. As in our case, sometimes there are too many what if’s and too many variables and so making the right decision is a back and forth that wears you out. A few weeks ago, after our walk in Cherokee Park, I came home and we had a conversation that resulted in a decision that we thought would keep us in Louisville through December. Then, as sometimes happens, a chance conversation totally changed everything and we just knew. It’s time to leave.
That is our experience. In a split second, a decision that had been muddling our thoughts for weeks, suddenly became crystal clear and that stirring in the gut that had been whispering “change is coming”, came into focus and just like that, we were moving back home.
Totally on faith. Mr. Piano is finishing his dissertation and making final preparations to graduate in December. That will be his focus. My focus will be this blog and pursuing other writing opportunities. We don’t know what the future holds, or what plans God has for us, or even how long we will get to stay home. But we know God is in the move.
Our course has been charted, circumstances beyond our control have come into play and we are embarking on yet another adventure. The story is still being written, but we have complete faith in the author and we know that he has our back.
In the meantime, we plan to splash the “extra colors” we’ll be bringing home all over the place and look at everything with “new eyes”. We’ll settle into a simpler rhythm and it may just be as if we never left, only better.