The journey

..don't you think that's what life is...a journey?

It seems to be the common theme for me lately. Not so much MY journey, but seeing and praying for people who are experiencing changes and new things in their journey.

Here are some glimpses of journeys I've been privileged see and pray for lately:

*My two college aged daughters making life decisions and struggling to trust the wisdom God gives to make good ones.
*A friend whose family is taking a real journey across the country to remove themselves from the familiar in order to hear from God about their future.
*Two old friends who have recently lost mates. Devastating part of the journey...one who is still reeling and one who seems to be finding purpose and joy again almost two years later.
*People all around us who are being forced to change direction in their lives because of disastrous financial, career or health situations. Unsure footing makes it hard to move forward.
*I have a few friends who are changing the futures of a few little ones by adopting new children into their family. Even though this is a joyful event, it also comes with feelings of an unsure future and vulnerability.
*We recently visited with relatives who went through this adoption process 3 years ago and see the joy their unsure journey has led them into.
*A young friend who has been on mission in a third world....almost 5th world actually....country for the past 5 months. She is processing all the contrasts in culture and prosperity and what is really important in life. I learned a lot by listening to her recent journey last Sunday.
*A few people I've talked to or heard about this past year who are elderly or gravely ill who speak of the end of this earthly journey and hope for the place we're going to continue on in wonderful part of the journey....not the end but the reward and the fulfillment of all of our hope for eternity.

When it is hard, sometimes it can seem like we're traveling through a blinding snowstorm with no shelters, warmth or light to help us on the way. We feel lost, alone, and abandoned. The key is that it 'seems like'.....and although those feelings are real and very valid, there is always a guiding Hand, whether we can see it happening or not, whether we trust it or not. Coming out of the storm can even be difficult but it is part of the journey, crossing over into new territory and new beginnings. Things are not often the same after a storm. There may be permanent scars to our environment and lives, but pressing forward is the only way to see what God will do, how He heals and revives us again, and the future blessings in store for us and our loved ones. Coming through a storm reassures our hope and proves it.

I hope that whatever part of this journey you are in, you will trust and be willing to keep moving, keep pressing on because God has a plan for you....good things, even after hard times.

"All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble." 6Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time." 1 Peter 5:5-6

Sometimes the humbling is not something we contrive or cause, but something that happens to us as a result of being knocked down. But in due time.....just wait....He lifts us up. It looks like a promise to me.