there & back again...

"not all who wander are lost." - j.r.r. tolkien

march 8, 2011 :: after much prayer and various confirmations/urgings from God, i felt like it was time to focus on a book i've been slowly working on for years... so i put in my notice {a 3 month notice} at work...

march 20, 2011 :: the husband and i receive a completely unexpected, exciting email from our amazing friends in montana, inviting us to stay with them for a month or two that summer - to work on a record for their daughter, izzi, {which, btw, will be on itunes in about a month! woohoo!} and help out at the church... it was perfect timing!

april 3, 2011 :: we put in the notice to our landlord... knowing we didn't want to pay rent for our place during our six-week stay in montana.

may 1, 2011 :: moved into my parents' house to save for the big trip.

june 15, 2011 :: my last day at work

june 16-18, 2011 :: travelled through 5 states and finally made it to our much-anticipated destination :: whitefish, montana!

june - august 2011 :: the husband worked on izzi's project, and i worked on the book... then decided to stay until the end of august... but God had other plans! the skull church band wanted to cut a record, so guess who they hired? yep, the husband...

sept - november 2011 :: husband worked on the skull church project and kept playing with phil wickham, flying out on weekends, etc... i continued to work on the book, wrote another children's book {for the little tykes}, and began painting and drawing again.

a week before thanksgiving 2011 :: God provided for us to stay until early december.

december 7, 2011 :: we said emotional good-byes {ok, i was the one that got emotional} to the people and place we had come to know as "home" and began our trek back down to california.

december 9, 2011 - now 2012 :: adjusting to california life in the fast lane, enjoying holidays with our families, catching up with friends, getting our fill of portola and kean, and keeping busy with projects and the book {yep, still writing}.

i'm not exaggerating when i say that the last 10 months have been life changing and we really have no idea what's next! we do know that we're supposed to stay where we're at for the next few months but after that... we're still just praying. :) which is so exciting and maybe scary to some people, but i like to look at it as an adventure... God's in control, He knows what's next, so i don't need to worry about it. i love what beth moore said in her inheritance study - "if you're a christian and your life is boring, then something's wrong."
through this whole experience, we've learned a ton, but the one thing that sticks out the most is the calling {for every christian} to walk by faith, not by sight. where God guides, He provides. sometimes God only reveals a tiny bit of His plan, just enough for us to move - just move one step. because let's be honest, if He were to reveal His whole plan, we'd get in the way. we'd start worrying about the details and the 'how' of it all. He knows that about us, and i think that's one of the reasons he asks us to live by faith over and over in His word - it's an act of giving up our will for His, letting go of what little control we think we have in our lives and willingly asking Him to lead.
life should not, cannot, will not be boring if you are walking by faith with Jesus Christ! just do it! :)