A Blessing

This has been the year of the plot twists. We've just come to accept that. It started with the gallbladder back in January and continued on through my job change in June and has had a hundred much smaller examples tucked everywhere around those two big events.

When Ryan and I sat in our hotel room last December, thinking back over the second season of our marriage and dreaming ahead over our third season of marriage, we had no idea what would come. And we knew we had no idea what would come. We knew we didn't have a clue how to dream, because we didn't know what our lives might look like. But we are dreamers, so we did the best we could and held hands tightly to run forward into the great unknown of season three.

Some things, like gallbladder surgery, were wildly unexpected. Some things, like quitting my job, were inklings in our minds, but we weren't sure how or when they would take place.

And now, with just 2 1/2 months to go until we celebrate anniversary number THREE, we realize there's also just enough room for a few more plot twists to sneak their way in to our year of plot twists.

This week, we've been praying about some things, and a few times, God has sidelined my heart with the urge to devote time to prayer. And when I say time, I mean time. And what a blessing it has been to be able to put aside the to-do list and crawl down on the floor and pray out loud. What a blessing it has been to declare that for this week, when needed, my full time job could be prayer. What a blessing it has been to know that if I prayed all morning and the afternoon demanded more, I could do that.

I've told a few friends that I'm so grateful for this schedule-freedom, because when I worked full time, I didn't have the luxury to just stop producing and start praying - for hours on end, anyway.

These times of prayer have allowed me to experience a new season of connection with the Lord like I've not had for a while, and although I am occasionally exhausted, I'm also grateful for growth.

I'm in a Bible study group right now, and we're going over what it means to thrive. As I did all my word-study homework, I learned that I really hadn't grasped the extent of thriving. It goes so far beyond "good and healthy" and represents the life I truly hope to live, though I know the road to get there could be a long and hard one.

So even though we don't know what plot twists lie ahead {and they could be super scary - eek!} I know that as a couple and as children of God, we want to thrive...we want to blossom and flourish and produce good fruit. We want the Lord to pour over us in ways we couldn't dream.

And for the chance to learn this and pray over it this week...I'm grateful.