Wherever you go...

I have been absent from bloggy-land so long, I nearly forgot my password! Tragic, to be sure. I have a load of blogs rolling around in my head, but just haven't felt inspired to set them out before you in "print."

I've been thinking lately about that phrase, "Wherever you go, there you are." I was so restless and eager to GO somewhere at the beginning of summer when I realized that I spent the first six months of this year within a 100-mile radius of home. That's fairly bizarre for me. It seems that life just sort of rolled on like a steam train without me, or ahead of me, and I struggled to keep up and catch up to it. I kept seeing things go by in a blur without feeling any connection to how I could "jump on."

Finally, in July, I was able to get out and about a bit, with a much-needed quiet respite at the beach, and a whirlwind "friends and family" tour to Georgia and Alabama. (thanks all!)

But now that I'm back, and taking stock of the year, I realize that it's just ME that I'm restless with. Wherever I went, there I was. Frustrated and undisciplined, numb and no-longer-contemplative, going-through-the-motions of life in a flurry of activity.

I don't want to be busy for the sake of having things to do.

I want to DO things that are the things I'm supposed to be doing. I want to be involved in creative projects that further the Kingdom of God. I want to be prayerful and thoughtful and engaged with God in a way that inspires me and brings glory to His name.

I am the Vine, you are the branches. When you're joined with me and I with you, the relation intimate and organic, the harvest is sure to be abundant. Separated, you can't produce a thing. Anyone who separates from me is deadwood, gathered up and thrown on the bonfire. But if you make yourselves at home with me and my words are at home in you, you can be sure that whatever you ask will be listened to and acted upon. This is how my Father shows who he is—when you produce grapes, when you mature as my disciples. John 15:5-8, The Message

That's all for today. Just needed to let that one out of my head.