Ben, Isaiah, and I spent the 4th of July up in Lincoln, Nebraska with my sister-in-law’s precious family and several of their church friends. It was Isaiah’s first time staying up late to partake in the fireworks show, but what he enjoyed most was zooming around the backyard with his cousins, splashing and sliding into the kiddie pool, and catching fireflies (ah, to be a kid again…).
I have to say, my favorite part about our 12-day trip, which began in stunning Telluride, Colorado and ended in Omaha – where there’s a fabulous zoo, FYI – was simply sitting and chatting with my husband and brother- and sister-in-law over a cup of coffee while the kids all played around us. Few things warm my soul more than good conversation and the laughter and impromptu comedy of children, which of course was not seldom interrupted for the sake of safety and discipline! (Amazing how swiftly laughter can turn to tears when wrestling, marble runs, race car tracks, Polly Pockets, and sharing practice are taking up one living room rug.)
Right now, I’m sitting at my desk listening to Isaiah squeal with delight while playing in the pool with my mom. He, like me, is very much a homebody, and while he loved his first out-of-state vacation (airplane and gondola rides were a favorite!), boy was he ready to sleep in his own bed and play with his own toys!
I’m trying to wrap my head around the fact that in a few short weeks, we will be sleeping in new beds in a new house in Corpus Christi, a town in which our family knows no one, save for a handful of Ben’s colleagues I have yet to meet. Blessedly, I feel nothing but excitement for this new adventure, which seems nonsensical since we are leaving so much behind, not least of all a decade’s worth of friendships.
Have you ever felt a strange, overwhelming sense of peace when worldly instincts dictate you should feel at least a modicum of fear and/or resistance? As a follower of Christ, and one who has walked with Him for nearly 28 years, I can testify that that “peace that surpasses understanding” isn’t foolish at all, but rather a signal that we are smack-dab in the center of God’s will. The steadiness in our spirit is there to assure us we’re on the right path so that when naysayers, or well-meaning friends and family members, try to challenge it, we can continue to stand firm, our gazes fixed on the One who calls us out of our comfort zones where true faith can be tested, and divine plans made manifest.
While Ben will be (already is!) busy with work in Corpus Christi, I haven’t the foggiest idea what God has in store for Isaiah, myself, and my in-laws who have decided to move there as well. All we know is we haven’t the slightest doubt that God is calling us there, and for us, that’s all the direction we need. We trust we’ll receive further marching orders once we’re settled, or whenever the Lord sees right to issue them! I’m in no rush. In the meantime, I’ll continue to seek Him in prayer and in His Word, to read and to write and to love my family and grow with them day by day. And despite my somewhat irrational fear of swimming in oceans, I’ll visit the beach and probably write a few poems about it, though nothing nearly as beautiful and moving as these stanzas from “Dover Beach,” one of my favorites by Matthew Arnold:
Sophocles long ago
Heard it on the Ægean, and it brought
Into his mind the turbid ebb and flow
Of human misery; we
Find also in the sound a thought,
Hearing it by this distant northern sea.
The Sea of Faith
Was once, too, at the full, and round earth’s shore
Lay like the folds of a bright girdle furled.
But now I only hear
Its melancholy, long, withdrawing roar,
Retreating, to the breath
Of the night-wind, down the vast edges drear
And naked shingles of the world.
I’d love to hear if there’s any new adventure on the horizon for you, and/or how I can be praying for you this month. Please reach out to me at diana.tyler86@gmail.com!