It's kind of like being on vacation with God.

We move tomorrow. So of course I need to blab about something in this whole process that is built up inside of me. Here's the first thing that I need to remember I have learned.

...So yesterday I had this deep thought about life as I was talking to Denise. I was saying that life with God is a lot like going on vacation together in life. It doesn't matter if we go to California, Nebraska, or just visit each other, we are just happy we get to be together. And for the first time I felt like I got that is how God created this journey of life to be. Kind of like going on vacation with Him. Doesn't matter what house we live in, what job we have, what shoes we wear. It's just important that...

...we are together.

God and us. Doing this life together with God is a lot of times just about calling each other and connecting. Sometimes it is about the big stuff like crying about how we feel defeated and overwhelmed, sometimes it about what purse to buy, and sometimes it is just because we have a minute and what better than to pick up the phone and call. I want my life with God to be a relationship like that. A relationship that we can go anywhere and have a good time because we are together. A relationship that when we go on vacation we have a blast because it is an extension of our ongoing daily relationship. Of course I would rather go snorkel with the turtles than go to Nebraska, but I have the trust that even when we are doing the mundane of life the awesome will still be a part of the bigger story. Story. The story is about the characters first and foremost. You cannot have a story if you don't have characters in it. Then they connect. This is where I am at in so many ways. I am asking...who are the characters in my story? How do they connect? Then I wonder what are they doing? All story has parts that build into the purpose of the story. The movies that have action the whole time aren't really real in any way. They don't win those "sundance deep movie awards" or whatever they are called. They just have a whole bunch of stuff blowing up a lot. They don't make you think. The stories that make you think sometimes feel like they are moving really slow. There are these times where songs are playing and they are on road trips. Or they are at a wedding dancing or they are going out to dinner or playing frisbee. They are just being real people. Those are the movies that move me. Those are the ones that I know there is something more going on than just what you see at the moment. There is a story being built. There is connections being made. So I guess as I prepare for the next chapter in my story I want it to be more than I can see at the moment. I want it to be where a song is playing as I pack my house and eat twizzlers and sprite that Jenn brought over, and Micah takes the longest bath ever and sings about leaving the house the whole time, and Aidan builds on the Lego Creator software because "it is where your ideas can come to life". I want my ideas to come to life. I want my story to come to life. Just like the salmon that swim against the stream to create life I want to do that.

I know don't want to be just another boring person in suburban America. I really hope that I can create something from this seemingly ordinary life into something that inspires. Inspires hope. Inspires others to go beyond. Inspires others to create.