Greetings from Austin Street

TGIF Today God is first on this Friday!  All is well had pretty calm here at 811. I am packed. Clothes for tomorrow are laid out. Travel documents are in my oversized bag that I will carry.  Laundry is done. Pizza for dinner and the last trip (maybe) to Walmart has been made. Bruce may make one more before the night is over. We have some binoculars somewhere, but unable to locate them. So the Walmart trip might be for binoculars. (He just left for the WallyWorld.) I am hoping to get to bed early as 4: 30 AM will come early. Travis is picking us up and taking us to the airport. We have been given the nicest gift. A friend of ours works for American Airlines and has given our name to the roster for the Admiral’s Club for the morning. I think we are going to have breakfast there before we board the plane. How cool is that?!!!  I found myself a bit weepy today and tried to figure out why. This is what I think…I am not happy about the reasons for this trip, but I am so grateful and excited that Bruce and I have and are still being healed and this adventure will be an extension of that healing process.  Thank you all for your warm well wishes and prayers of travel mercy and safety.  This will be my last writing I think until we return.  I will miss writing and posting, but I promise pictures and a few sentences as we go.  

The candle has been lit…

Dear God, thank you for knowing the way I should go and for showing it to me one step at a time. Thank you God, for your wings under which I am protected from what threatens me and by which I am taken to where you want me to be. You have promised to guide me through this life offering wisdom and divine counsel. Help me to choose to listen and follow your voice no matter where I am . And Lord, I ask that this time in a grand part of your exquisite creation be an adventure of fun, joy and renewal without incident. I love you Lord. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Today I printed  our boarding passes for our flight to Seattle. I must admit I had to call the airlines and be guided through the process. There was a very nice lady who answered and she patiently guided me through the process and celebrated with me upon our completion.  Sometimes it is easier to follow voiced instructions given one at a time than a great many written instructions with many options.  And even when I needed to make a change she stopped the instructions and guided me again until I was able to print the boarding passes.

Really high on the list of what God likes to do for us is guidance. God likes to get on the path and walk with us in its twists and turns. Sometimes that path is like a winding country road that holds slippery surfaces, curves that happen suddenly and without warning.  We have been on that country road this past year. But the point is that we reach our destination by the directions God gives. My meditation tonight recalls scripture that has many stories of divine guidance; Abraham to a new land, Jesus in the wilderness and Paul to Macedonia to take the gospel to Europe.  This character trait of God as a guide has not changed from those first folks whom God guided in ancient times. God still wants to guide each one of us down roads that have been prepared for each of us to reach our destination.  The growth in wisdom, trust  and healing does not happen when we reach the destination but in the journey.  And the journey happens each day. Let us have just enough courage and trust to allow God to guide us each day one step at a time. 

“He scatters His bright clouds. And they swirl about, being turned by His guidance, that they may do whatever He commands them.”

Job 37: 11-12

“You’re my cave to hide in, my cliff to climb. Be my safe leader, be my true mountain guide.”

Psalm 31: 3

(It seemed appropriate for tonight. One of our excursions includes a walk across a suspension bridge over a canyon.)

Take joy in the journey guided by the voice of God and the leading of the Holy Spirit. Wear comfortable shoes, pray for us, get some sleep and pray for each other. Love you all, Bruce and Gaylene Anchors Away!