Cold Chats

I wonder if everyone feels the same when I tell you that there is always something that keeps me just a smidge foggy in the head. I have enough girlfriends to reassure me that this is true for them at any given moment. These days, it has been a cold that has lingered long enough to identify as allergies. Maybe. So in between fitful sneezes and used-up tissues, Rick and I had another conversation that may sound very familiar if you have listened to Tapestry long enough. (Thank you for that, by the way.)

Giftedness, Calling, Comfort Zone, and your why. We talked about these things once more because we are once more letting some things go as we try to follow the path on to other things. This is life. It bears patterns, and sometimes it is redundant. Sometimes the same conversational topics can expose new truths, more certainty, and a clearer way forward. I need that. We need that.

This week brought an answer to the possibility of purchasing and opening a shop.

"We will not give an immediate response; neither yes nor no. Instead, we will come back to our own table, weigh all the pros and cons, and lean in to what we feel the Lord has for us," we had promised in the weeks of waiting for the offer letter.

We did just that.

While the answer is no today, I don't feel like the door is completely shut to this opportunity, and so we wait. We live. We have more conversations. We work it out. We trust. And lo and behold, we find ourselves enjoying the process. There is some truth to that old sentiment; we are enjoying the journey no matter the destination.

I am so grateful to sit across from a man who overlooks my pile of tissue to see the girl who wants to hear the wood floors creak and the bell jingle as the door opens. He answers my question, "Where does our security lie?" with certainty now that makes my heart lighter.

We have come through some hard years of being married, as anyone with a few years behind them will confess, in order to have these redundant conversations.

It is pure blessing, and I am grateful.

It is my faith in God, who has a beautiful plan for me and us. It is Rick. It is Meghan, Savannah, Eli, and Ruby. It is the family that they have gone on to create and grow.

They are my why.

Joanna Gaines expressed this same idea in such a beautiful way when she wrote:

I'm grateful to not have reached the finish line in my life without fighting harder to be known for the things I believe define me. The partner I am to Chip (that's Rick for me), the way I nurture my children (and grandchildren), my willingness to follow dreams even when they scare me. My desire to love people the way I believe Jesus did. The little bits and pieces that make me profoundly ordinary and beautifully complex.

This is an excerpt from her book, The Stories We Tell.

And this is why we have what may appear to be the same conversation in various forms. On any given day, they can be profoundly ordinary and yet beautifully complex.

Both bring us closer and keep us going strong.