an adventure within an adventure

I absolutely love adventures.  Whether it involves hopping on a plane and traveling to a foreign country or curiously stumbling on a new place in my hometown, I am totally game.  I love adventures of any (and every!) kind.  I had the wonderful privilege of visiting my dear friend E for Thanksgiving... I spent about 4 days with her and so enjoyed that time with her and her family.

Well... E just happens to live in NH, about 4 hours away from where my parents live in ME.  So my parents and I concocted a grand plan that we would each drive 2 hours and meet for lunch in the middle of the great state of Maine.  I woke up early on Saturday morning (well, early for me, early for a holiday) and started out on my incredible journey.

It really was incredible.  It wasn't long before I found myself driving through the White Mountain National Forest in NH, completely surrounded by mountains-- driving in mountains, over mountains, around mountains, through mountains.  I would drive around one mountain and find another mountain in front of me, still to be driven over.  Some had snow, some did not.  Some had trees, some just rock.  So many mountains... I could have been in heaven.  I almost jumped out of the seat of my car when I passed a sign that said "Mt. Washington-- turn left."  Seriously??!!  Mount Washington--the highest mountain on the East?!  I almost followed that sign, but I had lunch and my mom and dad waiting for me.  But I looked around me and I'm pretty sure I spotted that grand mountain in the distance.

And then there were the small towns... all small but all so different.  Charming, simple, spread out, clustered... old shops, old cars, old gas pumps.  I could have stopped and explored every one of them.  But again, lunch was waiting for me... I kept driving.

About halfway there, I realized that I really needed my camera.  So I made a deal with myself that on my drive home, I would meander for as long as I wanted to, snap as many pictures as I wanted to, leave myself no time limits to see everything that I wanted to see.

So I did.  And it worked... until the sky turned pitch black and I could no longer see.  And mountainous, country roads are crazy in pitch black!  But anyway, it was fun.  I pulled the car off and snapped pictures for as long as I could.  I enjoyed documenting my journey...

so grateful to spend time with ma and pa (and Dooley) before hitting the road... 

my new moose hat to keep my head warm

huge icy, icy, FAST waterfall... in the middle of a town!

I think I have a fascination with old bridges.  I passed so many in the small towns and I could have stopped to take pictures of all of them.  But I only took a picture of this one... I'm pretty sure I drove over this one.

I asked Jesus to bring a moose across my path, but He did not... as far as I know.  I'm sure He had His reasons. =)  So I took a picture of this fake one.

I made friends with a giant lumberjack (there are many of them in Maine) =)

Ah, the Appalachian Trail.  I dream of one day doing the whole thing!  For now, I just enjoy the northern part.  

And Mt. Washington... just beautiful.

After that, it was dark.  But I still loved the adventure.  It's a great blessing be pulled out of your normal world for a bit of time and hit the road to experience what's new.  I open my eyes, take it all in, my spirit soars... I open my ears, listen for the still, small Voice... and yes, He tells me He's here too.  What a great adventure.

dancing in the driveway

Tonight... I danced in the driveway.  I had made vegetable soup for dinner and ran out in the crisp night air to drop the can in the recycle bucket at the end of the driveway.  Except I couldn't come back in the house... I just couldn't.  Maybe it was the combination of the crisp night air, the clear sky and almost full moon, and the stillness that just seemed to surround me... I don't know... but all I could do was dance--shoeless and in my pajamas--dance around the driveway, take in the beauty, and thank Jesus for meeting me in that moment.

In my dancing, I felt the wind blow.  A strong but gentle wind blew around me... swirling as I ran and danced around.  I remembered how Jesus likened the wind to the Spirit... how He blows and swirls around us and we don't know where He comes from or where He's going.  But we listen for Him and we follow.  So tonight, He blew... and His blowing was a blessed reminder to me that He's here, present, now.

How I just want to live my whole life dancing with Him... taking Him in... letting Him take me in... and moving through this life together.

I have the feeling that my heart is being set free just a bit more deeply in these moments.  The past few months have been full of many things, but mostly pressure... I have been oh so sensitively aware of my own performance, and lack of it.  My expectations have been high and response harsh when expectations are not met.  In these times, I suppose grace has been more of a concept than a present reality.  How I've missed it.

But then come the moments when I try to take a can to the recycle bucket... and I'm completely knocked off my feet by grace.  The sky, the air, the moon, the stars, and the wind... they all whisper to me of the gifts that are mine to enjoy.  And they whisper to me of a God who shattered all expectations when He died on a cross... and crushed all pressure when He burst up from a grave.

How I love that God.  How I long to see Him but how often I miss Him when the pressures and the expectations do crowd in.  So I continue to look to heaven, strain my eyes and my heart toward Him, and ask Him to continue to show up in the simple moments of life.  And He does in the craziest of ways-- seriously, Lord, in my fuzzy green socks with a can of vegetable soup in my hand?  In the driveway?  What will the neighbors think?  But still we dance... and when I come back into the house, I am not the same girl.  Thank the Lord, I meet Him and I come back different.

I continue to believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living!  Wait for the LORD; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the LORD!   ~Ps 27:13-14