Farther Along. That's the Josh Garrels song that I played on repeat throughout 2014.
Then on Sunday morning before I left for Nicaragua, this is what the worship team sang.
Right at the end of the service.
Like a benediction over my trip.
I think God was saying to me, "Eyes open, baby girl. I'm about to show you something special."
This is how I felt before:
This is how I felt afterward:
I still don't have all the words for it all, but GRATEFUL is right at the top of the list.
Grateful
to my wonderful friends, Annie and Katrina, who back in February said "yes" to we-knew-not-what, and who held my hands and dried my tears with their love all weekend long. They gave me strength, courage, and permission to be myself. They were Jesus to me.
Grateful
to the beautiful ladies of International Christian Fellowship of Nicaragua for the invitation to spend the weekend with them. I found 92 more of my tribe, and more of the tribe is always a gift.
Grateful
to God that, farther along, I do understand it just a little bit more.
Twelve years ago, when I was having a nervous breakdown in Papua New Guinea, I thought my life was over. And in a lot of ways I guess it was.
But, because God redeems, he makes new life in ways we cannot imagine.
And this weekend, when God began to show me some of what he had in mind all those years ago, he chose to show me this on the edge of my beautiful, beloved Pacific Ocean, under a sunset that went on for an hour, each minute more beautiful than the last, surrounded by friends old and new.
As I stood in the surf watching the sun fall into the sea, a young lady beside me said, "The sun sets on us, and it rises on the other side of the world." Her family is in Malaysia, so she knows whereof she speaks.
We stood there together and knew God's light was rising on people we love.
As it does.
Always.
Because God redeems.
And when we see that redemption, we are so grateful to be along for the ride.
