In the ever-expanding world of blogs and bloggers, posting something new only once a year is not the recommended frequency for success. Yet, here it is. It’s January as I write these words and my last post was in February of 2018. The one before that was March of 2017. Hey, wait. That’s once every eleven months. Well, that’s not so bad then.
I did a little research regarding blogs and bloggers and discovered that the ideal frequency for posts—as well as the ideal length of posts—varies as much as the personality of the blogger and the purpose of the blog. So, there you have it. The purpose of my blog is to post extremely late Christmas letters and my personality is what it’s always been; easily distracted.
In one of my earliest posts, back in 2016, I wrote:
Our travels are much more like a journey than a trip, more like a sabbatical than a vacation, and more like a pilgrimage than a holiday. We are reading together, writing, deepening our devotion to each other and to God, entering into the lives of the family and friends with whom we stay, and rediscovering (dare I say, recreating) ourselves. We are seeking rest for our souls, making peace with our past, and hoping for some kind of healing or tending to our “wounds” that still feel so open. In the end, we believe this will be as much an inward journey as anything—perhaps more.
Well, here’s the gist of it. That hasn’t changed. We’re still doing exactly that. Trust me, that wasn’t what we thought we’d still be doing, but it is. We thought we’d have more clarity by now. But, perhaps clarity is overrated.
We wanted clarity but God is teaching us about trust and acceptance. We wanted confidence but God is teaching us about faith and surrender. We wanted comfort and security but God is teaching us about deprivation and detachment. We wanted courage and strength but God is teaching us about exhaustion and patience. We wanted to be ready for everything that comes our way but God is teaching us about obedience.
I guess that’s not so bad.
Not much has gone according to plan over the past nine months and we’re a good five months off from where we thought we’d be right now. The winds of change blew through, as they often do, and we were redirected. And we’re okay with that. We’re presently house sitting in Holland, Michigan. As most of you know, we have a son and a daughter and a granddaughter nearby so this is wonderful.
A massive winter storm—a polar vortex with heavy snow and sub-zero temperatures—is making it’s way through Michigan. We are finally surrounded by that indescribable winter wonderland most people only see in picture postcards. We have to admit, we love it. The condo we’re staying in is part of an association that not only plows the roads but even shovels our sidewalk. And the condo includes a nice garage. Enjoying the snow without having to contend with it is every Mid-westerner’s dream.
We’ll depart Michigan for the next leg of our journey sometime in March. We’re doing exactly what I suggested in my last blog posting, eleven months ago. We’re “taking another lap.” Lap number three.
LuAnn and I have set our sights on a rather unusual regimen as we resume our pilgrimage. I’ll tell you more about it after the fact. I’ve found that telling too much about what we’re doing before we do it only results in trying to explain why we ended up not doing it. It’s all a part of the journey; all a part of the quest; all a part of letting the winds of the Spirit blow across our lives.
If we follow the timeline we’re anticipating, we could arrive on the West Coast by May. But who knows. A good gust of wind could take us anywhere.
The wind blows where it wills, and you can hear the sound it makes, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes; so it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.—John 3:8
And so it is with us.
God bless you all…
Mike Sollom 