2010 is a comin'

I am sitting in a kitchen- somewhere in High Point, NC...spending time with Natalie and Kim Brown. We have decorated gingerbread men, watched a movie, shared a few meals, napped....good stuff for my morale. While being in North Carolina, I have been able to see Nathan, Patti, Kyle and Elliott Branson, along with Wanda Cranford and Zach Cox- good stuff!! There is a reminder in a book I just read (To Own a Dragon) that the Lord sets the lonely in families...and I live out that it is true. Praise God for the families in my life.

Before I made my way to High Point, I found myself in several other places- Andrews, Athens, Greenville, Toccoa and Thomasville. The SWO Christmas party was my first stop when I made it back to the Southeast. I spent several days with my grandparents in SC and also a few days in Athens, GA- visiting friends (people who are like family). I did reunite with two of my trail buddies, Hurricane and One Flop- always proves to be an interesting and good time!! The love I have for those trail buddies is unique and real (understatement, but I did want to include that thought).

It has been tough, though. Many different things are going on, especially in the lives of people I love...some hard news to take in. I will remain vague about it, but please be in prayer for my Mom, for one of the girls who was going to Peru with me- Rita, my dear friends from college- Megan and Tyler, a friend who is so close to coming to know the Lord but is deciding to still run- Elrod, my co-leader-Chris... an uncle of his just passed away.

The idea of receiving some sort of much needed relief from emotional and mental strain/stress/frustration was something I expected to come with my return to the Southeast, but I have been proven 'wrong'...my time 'off' has been very strange. God is most certainly taking me through a whirlwind- stripping me of many things that have once been superficial places of comfort or reassurance- relationships with specific people, for example....He is showing me my confidence must be in Him. Man- this has been something I ridiculously find myself fighting just resting in. Be at rest, o my soul, for the Lord has been good to you. Psalm 116:7. I am scared or unsure or something...find myself not truly trusting the Lord is fathering me- tending to me and fully aware of my existence. Please, please pray I will be alert to the very subtle ways I have tended to give up the much needed fight against lies from the enemy or the war with my flesh...

True and child-like excitement came over me on Christmas morning when I thought about going to Peru. It was refreshing...it was simple and incredibly encouraging to me. I have not been journaling like I have needed to lately, but I am going to get back to that because I have no clue what to anticipate. It will be neat to look back in a year or so to journal entries from this current and very closely-approaching season of life...HMMM...

All I need to be complete is Your love, Your blood, that covers me... JJ Heller, lyrics that just played on my computer.

I'll end on that.