Finding rest and peace in Colorado

We are currently in Colorado Springs visiting our dear, dear friends, Chris and Holly and their four children. We have fifteen years of friendship to go on and I tell you what, this gal is always a source of great encouragement to me. And Chris is ok too. :) Although he tends to bring out the base in me.

Since we arrived last night, I have been bombarded with much needed encouragement. I knew I was feeling empty and spent, but I had not realized just how much until today.

When we arrived, Holly all but met me at the door with a big smile on her face and said, "You are published. Come and see." A few months ago, Holly had called and told me that she was going to be putting together a cookbook in partnership with Beth Moore's Lifeway ministries and would I mind if she used some of my pictures. Well, the finished product is so great. So many women contributed to the book and Holly's efforts have created a culinary masterpiece with a heart, if you will. And to top it off, all of the proceeds go to Life Outreach International, working to provide clean drinking water for people without such a basic neccessity. I am so honered to have a part in this. The Siesta Fiesta Cookbook can be purchased from Holly. Go on and get you one right now!

And then we headed to church this morning. The music and worship was energetic and exuhberant. These people were loving the Lord with all their souls and it was beautiful. I was just enjoying the energy, and then, He got me. During the offering a gal sang a song - Painting Pictures of Egypt by Sara Groves.

I’ve been painting pictures of Egypt
Leaving out what it lacked
The future seems so hard
And I want to go back
But the places that used to fit me
Cannot hold the things I've learned
And those roads closed off to me
While my back was turned

My friend Rae had given me this song last year when I was really struggling with homesickness living in Peru. Hearing the song today, this side of Peru, where we are right now, hit me hard and before I knew it, tears were flowing. I think more of a catharsis of all the emotion I have been trying to deal with -saying goodbye, saying hello, moving, traveling - it all just came out and I felt...relief. Relief from stress, relief from self-induced pressure, relief from fear that things are not going to work out the way we would want. I felt the Lord remind me again that He is walking this journey with us and that no matter how it will go, He will be with us the entire way.

I love the line "the places that used to fit me cannot hold the things I've learned", and to be honest I really am still processing so much that I don't have much coherancy to my thoughts. I am still wrestling with what I am looking back for and what I am moving towards. But regardless, today, the Lord met me. He met me through song and he met me through my friends. He brought me much needed peace and I am grateful.