Seven

But I trust in you, O Lord; I say, “You are my God.” My times are in your hand…. –Psalm 31:14,15

Seven years ago today, Susie and I completed a difficult trip.  It was one that saw us through some very familiar territory – the highlands of northern Arizona, the southern edge of the Navajo Indian reservation.  Navajo friends drove three hours to greet us in Gallup; we enjoyed a “good-bye” meal with them.

Then, we continued eastward, cruising past the majestic peaks of the Sangre de Cristo range in New Mexico. And then we passed from the familiar and pushed on to the unfamiliar territory. A few tears were shed.

After day of rain squalls and wind, we were greeted by a massive double rainbow in Oklahoma city a we gently veered off of I-40 and headed northeast. We saw it as a sign that God was urging on to points north and east.

Across the red-tinged rolling knolls of Oklahoma, through the surprisingly dense woods of Missouri, crossing the Mississippi, and across the farm lands, thunderstorms and flatness of the mid-west.

And on August  2, 2006, Susie and I wound our way through the rolling hills and pulled into the southwest Pennsylvania community that we knew little about; a place we now easily call home.  Knowing all along, for whatever reason, this is where God wanted us to be.  We had drawn up our roots from a land we had called home for many, many, not just years - but decades.  And placed those roots in God’s hands; curious as to how the roots might grow in new soil.

And we trust this is where God still wants us to be.  Because where we are to be and when God wants us to be, are all things and times that are in his hand.

Where is God leading you?  What time is it in your life? What does God want to do with you, and where does he want you to be when he does it?

Good questions for a hot August 2.

And, if it is God’s will, here’s to another seven years.