Sigh

A year ago today we were headed to North Carolina for our 30th anniversary celebration.  I wrote about it here.  Sigh. 

We had my nieces over last week.  It’s so fun to see them growing up (they are 10 and 12) but I miss those little girls. 

Sigh.  However, some things never change… like baking cookies!

And making stuff…

Our oldest just got back from a short vacation in Palm Springs, which is where our girls grew up.  On the way to the airport yesterday she drove past our old house and texted me the photo on the bottom below.

I couldn’t find a straight shot of the house when we lived there but the top is how it looked for most of our 17 years there.  (I think I was trying to make it look as much like Oregon as I could and pretend I didn't live in the desert.)  I guess this landscaping makes sense with the drought conditions in California.  And solar panels on the roof are a wonderful addition.  But I could never have loved all the rock and lack of green.  Sigh.


Facetime and Skyping with my kids is second-best to in-person but I’m sure thankful for it!!  I miss this little one!

Just think… next month we will have TWO little girls to kiss!!!!  Sigh.

For the last three years, my friend Patti and I have had the privilege of having a group of 20-something young women come to my house every other Wednesday night to get to know God better through His word. Sometimes we had dinner but always we talked, prayed and shared a lot of life together.  Our group has morphed and changed since that first meeting in January of 2012.  We’ve had mostly Christ-followers but not exclusively.  There were Catholics, New Agers, unchurched, homeschooled, married, single, living with boyfriends and PK’s.  I will confess that it has been the most challenging small group I’ve ever led, mostly because I struggled with their inconsistency (which says more about me than it does about them).  But it has also been the most rewarding as I’ve watched God work in their lives, despite, above and beyond my expectations.  I have learned that I don’t have very much to do with the work God is doing in them but I sure was blessed to a front row seat. 

Last Wednesday marked our last time together as life changes and life’s busy-ness made it obvious that our group was coming to an end.  Sigh.

Which reminds me of something I heard yesterday from Timothy Keller…

I loved this for many reasons but the biggest is because I am a sigh-er.  Not always out loud but often in my heart.  When I watch the news, I sigh.  When I’m frustrated, I sigh.  When I can’t figure out a solution to something, I sigh.  When another driver does something dumb, I sigh.  What if I took every one of those sigh-inducing circumstances, as well as things like I wrote about above, straight to my Father in prayer?  Keller warned that if we don’t, the Enemy will use them against us.

I know from experience that this is true… he creates worry, fear, cynicism and hopelessness in me when I don't do anything with them but sigh.  Why would I choose that?

Turn my sighs to prayers.  Help me do this, Lord!