The Long Way Home

 “Every exit is the beginning of a new adventure”

Those words appeared on a greeting card I recently read.  Ah, new adventures...new chapters.  Sometimes new beginnings can be so appealing and exhilarating.  Sometimes they are just dang scary.  And, sometimes, they are a mixture of all the above.  A new job, a lay-off, graduation, an empty nest, marriage, divorce, birth, death...all chapters in our lives and all new adventures.  Generally speaking, to begin a new adventure, something else in our lives has to end.  For instance, to begin a new job, something has to end – be it your old job, unemployment or laid off status, being a stay at home parent, etc.  Graduation from high school marks the end to being a kid and the beginning of becoming an adult...it’s also often the beginning of an empty nest for many parents.  Marriage is clearly the end of being single and the beginning of a new life together with the one you love.  And, so on and so forth...you get the drift. To begin, sometimes you have to end.

Joseph, my littlest adventurer.

For the past 8 ½ years, my family and I have been rooted and entrenched in our church.  We have had the blessing of serving in a multitude of ministries, had the joy of seeing our children baptized, made friends with many incredible, wonderful people, and hinged on every word of God taught, spoken, or preached.  In many ways, this body of Christ, has been like oxygen to our lungs.  However, the time has come for us to uproot and set out on a new adventure, and to be totally honest...I’m struggling to turn the page.  The oxygen I once breathed has been shut off and I’m gasping for air.  God is leading our family in a new direction.  And, while I know His ways are good and perfect, this upheaval and leaving behind that and those I love so dear is really painful.  But, if I want to breathe again, I’m going to have to step off the ledge in faith and let the breath of God fill my lungs. 

Sometimes the transition between old and new is a tough one.  Yet once we make the transition and settle in to the new normal, we often look back and wonder what all the fuss and anxiety was about in the first place.  Life is a series of stepping out on ledges and taking risks, writing and living new chapters, making mistakes and learning from them, walking in the well-lit, known places, and sometimes venturing down dark, unknown paths.   With every step, may we walk His ways, inhaling and exhaling the breath of life that comes from our heavenly father.  His oxygen, fuel for the adventure of our long way home....

If you are transitioning to a new chapter or adventure in your life, I would be honored to pray for you.  Perhaps your transition is one you have been planning or saw coming...perhaps not.  Maybe you can hardly wait to dive in, or maybe you feel completely alone, frozen in fear and terrified of what lies ahead.  Regardless of your circumstances, feel free to leave a comment below or private message me at the email address listed to the side of the page. 

And, if I may, might I ask you to pray for me and my family also?  Pray for us as we walk in faith and seek a new body of Christ… Pray as we start new ministries and as we bring our boys up to love the Lord with all their hearts, all their minds, and all their souls.  Christian recording artist, Steven Curtis Chapman, wrote and composed the song, “The Long Way Home”.  I pray it speaks to your heart.

“I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.”

 – Revelation 22:13 (NIV)

Oh, Lord may we always seek and find You at the beginning and the end of every adventure as we travel home.