Moving Forward
Siempre Adelante (Always Forward, never back) ~ St. Junipero Serra
The Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you…so Abram went as the Lord told him. (Genesis 12:1,4)
The Lord says, I will make you wise and show you where to go. I will guide you and watch over you. (Psalm 32:8)
I am coming to accept a difficult truth: there is a chasm that lies between dreaming and realizing. This is what I will call the chasm of action. Intent is not, in fact, action. Alas, it is not the thought that counts. Jeff and I are in the countdown to Jeff’s retirement (under 90 days). We are rapidly breaching the gap of ‘someday’ to ‘this day.’ this has required action in the form of ‘first steps.’ In many ways I feel like I am being led to the edge of a cliff and asked to jump over and over. Jeff had to give his notice to his employer. We had a realtor come look at our house and discuss when we should put it on the market. We made the ‘book it now’ commitment to a month in Savannah to spend part of winter in a warmer climate in a highly walkable city. We have been filling our garbage bin to the brim weekly and taking carloads to Goodwill as we sift through 30 years of accumulated stuff. We have begun the hand over process of our church ministries. Cliff after cliff, step by step, always forward. This is a momentum of trust, a momentum of love, and a momentum of faith. Without our relationship with God, both individually and within our marriage, we would NOT be taking these steps. God planted this dream almost 20 years ago. He has shaped it. He had provided for it and yet He continues to unfold this forward momentum one step at a time. There are A LOT of unknown variables, blank pages if you will. Every Day, let me repeat myself, every day, I doubt, I fear, I question, and I try to put together back-up plans. Every day, in prayer, the God of abundant kindness reassures me. He walks me down the path that has led us here. He doesn’t magically reveal anything new. He simply stands on the truth of Who He has been, Who He is, and Who He will continue to be. Let’s face it, it is easy to dream. It is easy to plan. Neither of these is actual forward momentum. At some point when we trust that our plans and dreams are in keeping with who He calls us to be, we must move from intention to intionally acting. I pray that these words inspire you to also breach a chasm you have been facing in your life. Please pray for me as I resolutely move always forward.
