the Lovely Life: Sweet Time

Josh has been representing NTMA at the AirVenture show in Oshkosh, Wisconsin since Sunday. He's been sharing his testimony, talking about airplanes almost nonstop, meeting new people, and getting people excited about the work that NTM does through aviation. It's exhausting, but I'm pretty sure he's having a good time.

Last night I was able to go to a baseball game for the Tampa Bay Ray's at Tropicana Field in Tampa with our youth group. We had a good time, with lots of laughs, but sadly no foul ball came our way. There was phone-hacking, photo-bombing, and plenty of baseball talk.

Today, this sweet girl and I had a day of adventures, beginning with breakfast and ending on the clearance aisle of Hobby Lobby, with some kayaking and floating at Manatee Springs in between. I love her heart and spirit for people and the Lord!

So now we flip the page, and it's August. This means all kinds of new things for us. Crazy, amazing, scary, wonderful, and big. You should see all of the scribbles on my calendar. There is something going on with someone precious every single day. Next week {woah, those are some scary words right there!} we load up a moving van and drive off into the next chapter of our life. We're going to take our time getting up to Wisconsin, take the scenic route if you will, and then we jump right in to registration, orientation, and classes.

That's our missionary profile hanging in the "hall of missionaries" at our church, and the giant wall map of all the missionaries with a tiny flag representing us in Papua New Guinea!

This move doesn't feel like the last time we left Florida. That move I faced with trepidation, fear, and a whole lot of emotional baggage. This time, the Lord has granted peace, which I certainly don't understand. I'm excited to go onto the next chapter, no matter what that looks like, and I know that it looks like a whole lot of moving and changing. I know I keep saying it, maybe I just need to keep reminding myself, but all of this future uncertainty has made me appreciate people, places, and time so much more. Each moment is so much sweeter and precious to me than it has been in the past; and His children are so much sweeter and more precious to me than ever before, too. Maybe it's because I'm a fellow traveler on the road called life, that I feel like I can meet them where they are in their own journey, and that the best thing I can do for them is to love them in the moment{s} I have with them. Simple, honest, love. That's what Jesus would do, right?

In a way, I almost feel guilty because I'm excited to move onto the next chapter; almost like I'm betraying everyone's feelings if I'm not roaming the halls and weeping. Of course we're sad about who/what is staying behind to begin new chapters in their own lives, but that sadness is the sweet kind of sadness. The kind that just makes you want to hug someone, tell them it's okay, and rejoice in the beauty of the moment. I'm realizing more and more lately, that His people are so achingly beautiful.