It’s been quite a while since I’ve been on a physical journey.  Between pneumonia and sepsis this summer while working, and the death of my grandfather this fall, this past year has been a series of remarkably trying emotional and spiritual journeys.  (I should, at this point, qualify that because I am a teacher and youth minister, I always think of years in terms of school years.  So, to me, “this past year” means the summer of 2015 and the school year that is about to end.)  So much have these journeys tried my spirit that I have not even had the will to write in the little black journal that I carry with me.

However, I am incredibly blessed to have the most wonderful of parents, truly remarkable siblings (both of blood and heart), and some incredible friends who have helped, supported, encouraged, and (as one friend would say) “restrengthened” me through these trials.  I have come out this side of these particular trials with energy I have not had in a long time: to work, play, study, and plan.

This summer, I approach my journeys with not only a renewed spirit, but with a deeper, fuller, and more tightly woven relationship with my mother.  I am so incredibly blessed to be facing the future with this amazing woman.  I can’t wait to see what the summer brings!