From Paris, 2017

As I’m looking at pictures and reflecting on the trip that Ryan and I took to London and Paris for our 20th wedding anniversary, I am so struck by how many delightful little surprises God gave us while we were there. For the most part, except for a few key locations we knew for sure that we wanted to experience, our trip was fairly unscripted. Our choice to tour around with bikes and on foot lent to more exploration and unexpected discoveries. Down every street and around every corner was something new, fascinating and delicious. I’m glad we gave ourselves time and space for the unplanned. The spirit of spontaneity proved to not disappoint.

I’m home now and thinking even more about cultivating a life that gives room for the expansion of the awe and wonder of God. A life that is not so totally full, so totally planned out, that it gives no room for the spontaneity of God’s love that is shown in such numerous ways.

Because I’ve realized that whether I’m walking down the streets of Paris or up the street of my own neighborhood, there are people and places and things that God has put before me to be moved and disrupted by. They are beautiful and heartbreaking, gentle and sometimes harsh. But God uses all of them, like pieces of a puzzle, to fit into place for the journey that lies ahead. Nothing is wasted with God.

My prayer is this. Lord, make me awake to your love! May my heart and eyes and ears be open to the surprises that await in my coming moments and days with you. Help me not to be so tunnel visioned that I forget the awe and wonder of a life lived as a follower of the one true God. It’s a life of expansion and freedom and growth and I don’t want to miss a thing.