New Beginnings

Bursting out of the pottery pitcher, the lilacs commanded the attention of anyone who entered the sunny kitchen. For almost a month sprays of the delicate lavender flowers overflowed from the tall jug. The fragrance of the early spring blossoms was almost too much, you could smell them from two rooms away. To me, lilacs signal a new season, almost a new year for me. Not until this year did I realize that Spring is my private New Year. January is too old feeling to be the beginning. And that first tentative lilac bloom means Spring for me.

Now, in the ripe summer of the year, Mr. Inspired and I are having our own beginning. Six and a half years ago he started work at a new job in a new state. Everything that year was new, most significantly, the new journey of parenting. In he jumped with both feet, as he tends to do with everything, and he was immersed in the work, the people, the unique culture of the place and he loved it. We knew that God had led us through to the next chapter of our lives. Tomorrow, he is leaving that all behind and as he puts it, "stepping off into the Royal Gorge". Tomorrow we are going in to full-time missions work. I can't quite convey my feelings about this step he has made to leave what is secure and known to him and to us as a family and go into this uncharted territory. All I know is that, I love him deeper still and admire him all the more for this courage of his. Part of the excitement comes from knowing that on the other side of this transition we can stand together and look at what we have walked through and praise our Father for writing such a beautiful new chapter for us. What a great beginner our God is!