a glorious adventure . . .

That blue line is the route we traveled over the last 2 weeks!  According to MapQuest, it was just over 2,700 miles and 46 hours!  We were pretty much TOGETHER 24/7 for that entire time - sharing sleeping quarters, meals and activities, not to mention 46 hours in the car!  AND . . . we still like each other!!  In fact, 2 are even sleeping in my room tonight and did last night as well!  

We are all unloaded, unpacked and ALL laundry is done . . . including some extra bedding as all 3 girls will be leaving for Bible Camp this week!  Taya & Kajsa were scheduled to go and on Thursday, Tessa got a call asking if she could fill in as they are short a counselor!  They will all be going to the same PLACE, but will all be at different "camps"!  Tessa will be counseling Jr. High girls, Kajsa is going to SEEDS a pre-teen girls program, and Taya is attending Leadership Development Camp (LDC).  I'm so glad that Bible camp has been part of their summers for so many years!

I have learned so much and could say SO MUCH, but I want to sleep tonight, so I'm just going to share 2 new favorite quotes, and next week, I will share more about the meaning behind them . . . 

1st - from Jesus Calling . . . 

"You will never be in control of your life circumstance, but you can relax and trust in My control.  Instead of striving for a predictable, safe lifestyle, seek to know Me in greater depth and breadth.  I long to make your life a glorious adventure . . ."

(This was my devotional for July 5 - the 5th of the month - 8 months since Rick went to Heaven . . . and I am promised a "glorious adventure" . . . hard to take that perspective sometimes, but, I'm working on it . . . and that day, it was surely true!  More to come later this week!)

2nd - Shared by a friend on Facebook . . . 

"Today I will accept that my blocked door doesn't mean God doesn't love me. Quite the opposite.  I'll see it as proof that He does."

Very wise words - both quotes, and very applicable at the point I'm at right now!

Today, I had the pleasure of spending a couple of hours with one of my closest childhood friends.  We grew up 1/2 mile apart and she was a few years older than me.  She was first my baby-sitter, then a wonderful friend.  Only GOD knew all those years ago, that 2 years ago on June 14, she would become a WIDOW at the age of 47, truly being one of the few people who can really "get" me.  Not a road either of us would have "chosen" given the choice, nor where either of us thought we would "be" at this point in our lives, yet, here we are, not only sharing a similar "life experience" now, but with a history of years of friendship between us (our moms are really good friends as well!).  We'd not had a chance to just "visit" since her husband had died, but today we had such a good talk, and it was just amazing to hear how similar some of our thoughts have been/are!  Another reminder of "God in the details".

"See, I am doing a new thing!  Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?  I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland."  Isaiah 43:19