That was the title of the blog that I was writing sitting in 85 degree weather on a Redding morning with thoughts of gigantic spiders creeping through my mind. At the time Oregon was a promised land with fewer exotic style arachnids and weather I could wrap up in and sip hot tea. Unfortunately, many frustrating phone sessions later, I finally accepted the fact that my phone was not a successful blogging device. Therefore this blog will have to cover a larger span of time. I'll try to condense.
As I sit here, I'm full of so much anticipation for the things that God is bringing into the next chapter(s) of our lives, and Redding is a place that holds precious memories but even more, so many precious people that will continue to hold onto tiny pieces of our hearts effectively spreading us across the globe, (with some concentration in the US and Australia).
Our last weeks in California were filled with packing, cleaning, and saying goodbye to jobs, friends and family. It was a tough, yet invigorating time as we dreamed with God and each other. Life is never what we expect, but we know the value of making plans, while what they ultimately look like is not entirely up to us, which is both comforting and frightening.
Theresa's Arts conference that Ben helped orchestrate here was a massive wave of success. Businesses on both sides of the river were given art and just thanked for being in business.I was excited to see the welcome the arts received all over. People sang, danced, decorated cookies, took pictures,wrote poetry painted and drew. It is so good to see!!
Our dreams are not simply for the arts. We want to see people released into their dreams. All of them. Business, family, creative, financial, spiritual and even health wise.... nothing is left out. It is fun to see what begins to knit together as we dream. There were aspects of Ben and I that, in the beginning, I would have thought were incompatible. Now I can see them as perfectly supporting, even contributing to the success, of each other.
Specifically, my hope is to step more into dance. I'm outing myself a little here. While I'm in no way a professional, I know that dance completes me. Watching others step into freedom of movement frees them up in their thinking and in their hearts. I hope to take more training myself and would love to see more dance happening around me. No matter what our age, when we dance knowing that we are powerful and beautiful the sky breaks wide open!
Okay, to sum up. I love this area and there is much (many) still that we miss in Redding. We are excited for what will happen next, tying together all our hopes, experiences and personalities. I look forward to seeing each of you and hugging you relentlessly . May all your dreams come true.
