Girl Meets World

When my kids were younger and they were out in the yard with their 'bug-houses' catching fireflies or when I caught my own fireflies in a mason jar with holes punched out of the lid. The day my Dad married Todd and me. Those magical warm summer evenings when I was a kid as the street lights were first flickering on in Sunnyview Subdivision. Seeing my kids see the ocean for the first time.
I'm feeling a tad nostalgic this morning.
And as I drank my coffee I flipped on the TV and the series finale of 'Boy Meets World' was on. They were using a lot of clips and snippets from the 7 years the series ran on the air to make a point of how much things have changed over that time for the characters. How they had grown.
They of course in the very last scene made their way back to the school classroom where we met them for the first time to say their last goodbye.
The last few weeks I've been having these flashes of memories - more so than usual - of points in time of days gone by. And I found myself this morning sitting and crying into my coffee I watched Cory, Shawn, Eric and Topanga reliving theirs. But it was a good cry, you know?
Not that there weren't extremely bad times I have encountered. There were many. And not that the stressful hurtful times in my adult life haven't ever had me longing to return to a 'simpler place in time' - wishing I could run barefoot again with my dog Socks to the neighbors where a game of kickball would be getting ready to begin, and just play and forget what I dont want to deal with.
But today the memories are confirmations. Confirmations that tell me as things change that more good times are to come - they'll just look different.
I am thankful for such poignant points in the timeline of my life. Good and bad.
Girl must meet world after all - now where did I put that mason jar... :)

Joyful on the Journey
Marisa

I Want Whats Mine

As I drove home from Paducah KY I was contemplating some of the changes in my life recently. I was pondering on the things that at one point brought me feelings of anxiousness, concern, even panic at moments - and to be totally honest still sometimes try to grab at my heart for a few split seconds sometimes when I awake at 2am in the dark of night.
But what I am learning over and over in such grand and small ways is that if those changes had not come to my life, then the new things I am experiencing now would never have touched my life either.
For instance I would not have been able to take time away to join my husband for the last few days on his work related jaunt. A couple of what on the surface could be seen as regular old weekdays by many standards, but that upon closer examination are shown to reveal so much more.

Like an unexpected sweet time of silly road talk, lots of laughter, precious romantic moments with the man I love, finding a beautiful new vacation spot we would love to return to soon because we took a spontaneous side trip along the way, getting to meet singer Jeff Jenkins from The Voice in the middle of the Pancake Pantry in Nashville on the way, seeing a wall of creative artwork along the river in Paducah that uniquely paints the history of a town I mistakenly saw as unassuming before, and seeing many beautiful examples of God's creation all along the way.
Oh, if we could just forget what we think we need or want, and let Him give us what He wants us to have, there is nothing in our wildest dreams that could match the ongoing blessings of receiving what is good and perfectly designed by God for us each... "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him.”
1 Corinthians 2:9

I want what is mine - from Him - in all its perfection :)

Joyful on the Journey
Marisa