I Am a Leaf in My Steam, This is My life

A leaf in a stream is something that I have said about my life and wished I would live this way. That I would embrace opportunities and be grateful for each direction life takes me in. Of course there have been times in my life that were well scripted with kids, school and careers but then there were the times that were loose and could just unfold. Summers were like that when the kids were younger and we could plan or just go with the flow. Even our answering machine message reflected our unstructured time, “Some are home Some are not” kind of our own play on summer lack of schedule.

Here I sit as a leaf in a stream not really sure of what the next steps are in my life. The past year has been that of a caregiver after leaving my classroom for what may be the last time. It seems I have rarely been home in almost a year and I look forward to some time at home come April. But as of now I am enjoying a new grandson and time with my family in Washington. The airbnb hostel situation has been incredible and brought new people into my life. After this we have an RV trip planned with Dorothy’s family to somewhere warm. That is as far as the plans have evolved. Then I will help my sister go through the rest of Mom’s treasures before returning home.

What will the rest of my journey look like? I have a few ideas but nothing is in stone. Leona’s blog book gift has spurred me to possibly self publish Ryan’s piece of my heart. Then there is the Embracing Mom’s that I have left on hold. The other fact of life right now is that there always seems to be someone who needs one of our bedrooms for a brief time so we have become landlords of sorts. A new traveling nurse moved in last weekend and I look forward to meeting him. The one thing I am sure of is that life will not be boring in this season. There is so much to look forward to and so much to consider giving my time and energy to. The fact that I haven’t been home enough to learn to weave makes me sad. The reasons why I haven’t had the time are gifts in themselves. So I will never say never about going back to teaching or any other endeavor. Who can say I will be home more in the next few years? Ron and I are planning another sailing adventure in June to the Bahamas to help a friend deliver their sailboat. We hope to make a mission trip to Kenya to help with the children’s choir that spent time in our home in December. I guess it is good that others need a room in our home so our cats don’t get lonely and they fund in a small way some of our adventures.

Today I believe I have a plan through April, possibly June. That is as much as I can plan if I am to be a leaf in my life stream. I am okay with living this way. There will be time to sit in my comfy chair looking out my window at the park soon enough. Then I will grow where I am planted until then the current and water are feeling just right.

In Him,
Joyful
3-4-20