The Humming birds are preparing to migrate. At this time of the year more and more of them appear as they begin to travel down from the north, stopping over for the next several weeks as they feed with more and more frenzy. Soon they will leave us to travel further south before they make their final flight out over the ocean toward Brazil. Biologists still don’t know how it is they survive the landless journey from here to there. Faith is like that. It gets us from here to there and often defies human logic. If you have walked with the Lord for any length of time, you know…

I like being moved. There is a chair lift in a resort town in the Appalachian mountains I’ve ridden several times, and each time I have the same delightful experience of being carried. To sit back with my feet swinging, feeling the sun on my face and the wind in my hair, as I am caught up and away to the top of the mountain. The journey requires nothing of me, except my willingness to be born along to the eventual destination. Blissful moments of resting in the steady momentum of something other than myself. Trust is a gift I gladly embrace. It is desirable to have a solid foundation…

Half-way across the narrow suspension foot bridge spanning the Nantahala River, I stood and looked out at the rushing water. I wasn’t alone. My husband was standing a few feet away watching me. Quietly he said, “What do you love about it?” After a long moment I responded, “It never stops. It’s musical. It’s ancient.” And I gave myself, again, to the God who made the river and me. Beauty calls to us, draws us in. It reveals both joy and longing. Worship, then, is the authentic response of the soul thus enraptured. “Teach me Your way, O Lord; I will walk in Your truth; unite my heart to fear…

I love a good story. And being an avid reader, I’ve plowed through biographies, soared through fantasies, unraveled mysteries, and applied my logic to science fiction. Sometimes reading is a journey into myself, or a journey into the unknown where I suddenly find myself. An adventure in which perils are faced and overcome, where friendship and loyalty are necessary to defeat evil. There is nothing quite so satisfying as finishing a story that concludes with a window to the future of the characters, believing in happily ever after. Now, here we are, in the middle of a story. Much has happened before now, and a great deal more will happen…