The provision of relationships.

From low lying lake land to high desert mountains. The air is super clear and a little thin, dry, smells of sage, pine, and possible snow.

For me, familiar land. For most of my family, unfamiliar. On the trail this morning I thought of Ruth and Naomi and their journey. The blessings I receive in a house or job doesn't matter so much. What does matter is how I'm blessed through my relationships that are held together by my kinsman redeemer.

Thank you God for the relationships you've given me that provide hope, security, strength, and love. And thank you for sending my kinsman redeemer, your son.

But Ruth replied, "Don't try to make me leave you and go back. Where you go I'll go. Where you stay I'll stay. Your people will be my people. Your God will be my God. Where you die I'll die. And there my body will be buried. I won't let anything except death separate you from me. If I do, may the Lord punish me greatly."

Ruth 1:16-17

Fog in the Brain

Nothing was to clear my head this morning - not coffee, a walk, air so dense with aromas you could almost eat it, colors that seemed to have been painted on vegetation during the night, not even the bright sunshine once we were away from the lake. I like clarity, to see what's ahead but today I just had to go it one step at a time and know that I would get through the day and have peace once it was through.

We've been here 40 days, tomorrow we pack up, the following we leave. Sometimes you just go, not being able to see. I rejoice knowing that I can walk blindly because He knows.

So here is what we can always be certain about. As long as we are at home in our bodies, we are away from the Lord. We live by believing, not by seeing.

2Corinthians 5:6-7

Transformation takes time.

Family walking sticks take time. Shave off the bark, work away the knots, sand down the rough edges. It takes time. The result is something that can be carved into and used for intentional purpose.

It isn't all about the end product. The process brings its own work of art and beauty, its own intentions. If only I can notice the beauty in the process; the whittling away of my layers.

For God loves me in the process of transformation, just as I am.

Thank you God for your transforming power. Take me as I am, transform me, use me for your purpose. Let what has been shaved off of me be a witness to those who are ready to begin a journey themselves. I am thankful to you for the process.

Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we,who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory which comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.

2Corinthians 3:17-18

Daily Walk

My daily walk to the point gets more and more familiar. The rocks are not in the same places, the lake is changing color and level, I never know what the wind will be on the other side, and the eagles aren't always there; it doesn't get dull. It's familiar because it is always changing. It is a place I like to go every day because it reveals something new each time I go.

My daily walk with Him assures me more each day...He knows where every rock will be, which ones I will pick up, and which ones I will discard.

God thank you for sharing your creation with me on such a personal level. I will look to you for that which is unchanging, always reliable, always there. I love you.

Lift your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? He who brings out the starry hosts one by one, and calls them each by name. Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing.

Isaiah 40:26