Love Notes

Hello from the Pacific Northwest! We made it safely and joyfully to Seattle on a road that was adorned with much beauty. Some days I feel a long way from home. Our physical distance from familiar things dulls my memory and heightens my longing for them. I'm just plain homesick for a table set with cornbread, collards, sweet tea, and pleasant "y'all's" and "fixin' to's." Remarkable, though, in the midst of my missing familiar things is the new feeling that I am "home" in the comfort and familiar embrace of my husband's strong, capable arms. No matter what patch of dirt we've pitched our tent upon, we are home together.

With all the newness around us, our enjoyment of and familiarity with each other is like a favorite cashmere sweater on a cold, rainy Pacific Northwest day. This new home that we're building, our two-becoming-one habitation, is satisfyingly beautiful. When I forget, as I sometimes do, Chris reminds me with a love note left here and there. But it is God who is actually doing the building work as we allow Him to piece together our complementary angles, ways, and hearts. He promised He would. He is a promise-keeper. He is a home-builder.

The Compassionate One, the first and best author of love notes, is teaching us how to love each other well. Our reward is in Him and through Him we find all we long for: peace, joy, and hope. Our future is sealed, our purpose is set, and our wounds are healed.

We continue to pray for you and your families today. God is here. All is well.

-Susan (of the Wildflowers)

P.S. Here are a few pics of our latest wanderings from Wyoming through Montana and Idaho to Washington. Next stop: Oregon!