The Close of a Chapter

I am sorry to announce that I will soon be leaving behind beautiful Roanoke, with its changing leaves and smiling pumpkins. My husband and I are exchanging the blue, rolling hills for the gray, mountainous terrain of Colorado...in order to start a church.
Daunting? Yes.
A deepening of our faith? Most definitely.

I know God will grow us and mold us into images further resembling him, but sometimes I wonder, does God never get tired?

I do. I find myself giving a silent self-diagnosis of mononucleosis every morning when telling myself I must get out of bed. Life just seems to speed up the older we get, and I wish it were sometimes possible to push the 'pause' button to help slow the pace down. I'd love to just bottle some moments in time and keep them on a shelf for later viewing, like they do in Harry Potter.

I received a unique card from one dear, previous patient of mine. The portrait of a young girl was set on the cover, her face framed in flowers. The message was simple but powerful, bloom where you've been planted. But putting down roots isn't a process that happens overnight. It takes rain...sometimes in the form of torrential thunderstorms, to truly appreciate the end result.

I steel myself for another move from streets I know and familiar faces giving sincere smiles, knowing that change isn't easy, but I must believe it will be rewarding. To build a church from the ground up, to see a community changed, this is my husband's lifelong dream, after marrying me, that is. (=

So, how does my garden grow, you ask?
I say, with sweat, dirt, and patience.
But also, and thank God for this, with sunshine.