My scenery has been a revolving window for the last 2 years. The mountains, the valleys, the trees, the beaches, the desert.
The rural, the urban.
The historic, the unique.
And now we’ve settled down in one place for a season. Bought a house in the mountains of Arizona. A great house that didn’t seem a possibility for us and yet the Lord made a way.
It’s a big shift, to settle back down to a permanent foundation after that freedom of a nomadic life.
Fulltime RVing is a gift I will forever be grateful for. Words truly can’t express it all.
My dear friend was at my favorite beach in the entire country this week. She sent me pictures of the sand and the seashells and it tugged at my heart. I felt a longing to be there. To be somewhere new, exploring and experiencing.
It was the first time I felt this since we bought our house and moved in. I think I’ve just been too busy with all the things. Unpacking, plotting remodeling plans, preparing for another school year… My mind has been very preoccupied.
In that moment of seeing her picture, I had a longing. A sad sort of missing. A bit of an ache for that traveling life.
But then, as I sat with those feelings for a bit, they were replaced by a great wave of gratefulness.
I can’t believe I have lived this life. The one that enables me to say, “I’ve been there! You’ll love it!” I can picture places I read about and converse with people about their home states with a familiarity tinged with excitement.
I still have a longing to travel, yes. And we still plan to do so in the summers. And some year not too far from now hopefully we’ll pack up the boys still living with us and do this same thing again. But until then, I am so grateful for all the memories the last two years have brought.
I mean how many people have the opportunity to leave it all and experience what we did? I see God’s kindness woven throughout it all. The people we met, the friends who invited us into their community for brief seasons. The spectacular destinations. The experiences. Favorable weather. Travel mercies. Safety. Provision.
Yeah, it wasn’t always easy. But God’s kindness softened the hard parts. The weary times. He brought friends when we most needed them. People who spoke truth and encouraged us. Perfect changes of scenery. Opportunities for space when those thin trailer walls were closing in.
He blanketed us with his peace and with the assurance of his provision.
When I look back I see a beautiful theme of God’s kindness throughout all my life, not just the past couple years. I see his favor brightening so much of my story. Especially the darkest parts.
I think it would be easy to miss it. Easy to miss seeing his kindness. Because his kindness doesn’t simply make everything better. It just brings a sacred peace to the hard things.
And sometimes accepting that peace means making a tough decision. Choosing submission. Releasing. It involves an intentional perspective shift.
I know this because I’ve experienced his kindness in the most wretched of places. One of the gifts of grief is seeing the illumination of God’s kindness in the darkest of pits. His peace is most tangible when the pain is most suffocating.
And his kindness seems to shine even brighter when I take the time to see it. When I stop and recognize he’s pouring his goodness over me. Not because everything I’m facing is good, but because he is.
So I look back on RVing and am so humbled by his favor and by his kindness. What a beautiful gift.
And I also look forward to an unknown future and know that the God who has showered his kindness over me this far, isn’t going to stop doing so this side of eternity, and most definitely won’t stop beyond.
I’m grateful. I’m grateful for the seasons I have lived and the place God has me right now.
And today my prayer is that you see how the kindness of God is illuminating your life. May you use that light to shine brightly.
A beautiful and timely exhortation to remember to sit with our feelings and allow the Spirit to shift our perspective and bring the peace that only He can! I need to do this daily!