Kentucky to Carolina

If you asked me where I have been for the past week it would be easy to describe. It has been a porch-sitting kind of week, where the breeze or the rain drop in to say hello, enveloping you in a familiar sense of peace and provision. It has been a week where every moment makes it seem like, at least in this little corner, all is right and well.

This past week I have traveled from North Carolina to Northern Kentucky and every moment has been treasured. I have been falling in love with tomato and goat cheese sandwiches, buying local cheese curds from a roadside stand, and breathing in fresh mountain air. I have been sitting on a porch swing in the Carolina mountains swapping stories of international adventures and memories of younger days with my grandparents, my mother, and my brother. I have been retracing my family roots as we discovered old pictures of bearded ancestors, the weddings of my grandparents, bell-bottomed pants, and trips around the world or simply around the farm.

I have been blessed by memories, quality time, country mountain churches, and rolling hills. I have visited the places of my childhood and reminisced on rainy days. I have been from Carolina to Kentucky, walking through the history of my family, remembering my roots, and refueling my soul. In short, it has been a good week.

A few days ago I was sitting on the back lawn of my great aunt's house with a gentle breeze sweeping my face, like a million quiet memories whispering, "will you remember us?" As I gazed out at the apple tree and listened to the train pass, I wondered what stories this house could tell. I got to hear a few of them as I sat up late with my 87 year-old aunt the night before. We had talked through lost loves, past heartbreaks, and the twinkle in the eye of happy days gone by. And I realized something as I spent these precious moments with cousins, grandparents, aunts and uncles. I realized that I am part of a beautiful legacy, of amazing people who have walked this earth in great faith, with hard work and determination thrown in for good measure.

I realized as I traveled all of those miles that I am a part of something much bigger than myself. It felt like the roads were preparing me, telling me that this was just the beginning. Something radical is about to happen, and each moment with my extended family made me stand a little straighter as my bones got stronger and the wind whispered "get ready. Your time is now. Your time is here." It was thrilling really, in the quiet way that makes your heart beat just the slightest bit faster in anticipation of something you can't quite see.

So now seems as good a time as ever to tell you that we have made it. The time really has come. As of this weekend I have officially reached my send-off point, where my budget has been accounted for and my support has been raised. God has been faithful beyond my greatest imagination and you all have responded to the call in a way that I never would have guessed. Together we have made it, and now off I go. In a week and a half, on September the 19th I will board a plane and begin God's work that He has set out for me. We don't know what the days will hold, but this we do know: that something is about to happen, and God has used all of us to get there. 

Comments

  1. ...september 19th is on my calendar...and in my heart...blessings elaine/ccww

    ReplyDelete

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