Hello to you on this stormy day in Washington!
You know, God always allows us to learn a lesson from our daily life if we let the Holy Spirit teach it to us. My lesson over the last couple of days was that I better listen to my own mouth and what I teach and share and apply it to my own life. Here is the story…
I have shared that we are moving and how God orchestrated this whole move and the selling and purchasing of our new home. Amazing circumstances that He worked out. So here is the rub…after working so hard to get the condo ready for a new owner, we do not get final closing on Monday as planned. So this also pushes the closing on the new home out the same amount of days. This was due to no fault of ours, or the buyer. It was error on the part of realtors, mortgage people, and the association to which should have provided that information. We aren’t the first owners to sell a condo there. So what happens to me? I am ready to kick behind and take names. How irresponsible of them all, let alone how unprofessional. They all blamed each other. Not one person came forward and said I’m sorry this was my mistake. Now, I have to admit to being totally exhausted and my body hurting from all that we have been doing. I try to leave a home better than I found it when possible and so I work hard to do that. However, it bummed me out and I didn’t want to do one more thing within the walls of the condo yesterday. I just wanted to complain about how ridiculous it all was, and could have totally been avoided. The buyer was probably planning on being out of her place where ever it was too and now had to extend it some days.
So…now where did my faith go? Where did my trust in the God who made this all possible disappear to? In this morning of rest, it was made clear. I lost it and replaced it with all the other emotions that do not do me any good. Did He not perform a miracle in this making it 
all happen? Was He less faithful in this the changes than before? Maybe, just maybe, there is a reason we do not see that this delay took place. Maybe it was just to teach me this lesson. It changes the help we can get to move and delays getting our things in the new house, but we are still moving, and still selling the condo. I believe that I was so focused on what we wanted to have happen, that it was all about me. We always pray about various circumstances in our lives, but when God does it His way, which is usually not our way, then we get all fired up and think He isn’t in it anymore. He is. I’m the one that left my faith at the door from a phone call. Boy did I need to fan the flames of my faith!
This verse comes to mind: “Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him; do not fret when people succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes.” Psalm 37:7
Now I don’t think there was wicked schemes going on in this circumstance, but it was definitely the case of someone not doing their due diligence. However, my attitude is the one in question also. The Holy Spirit did a pretty good job of poking me about it too! God is in our delays, keeping us from things we may not know. He is in our sorrow right beside us. He is active in protecting us. I certainly had to have a Holy Spirit “behind kick” to bring me back to where my heart needed to be. I’m not proud of how quickly it went sideways, but I have also learned to come back to the Lord and ask forgiveness a lot sooner than I used to. These experiences are how we learn life lessons. We can be rather dense at times and in our stubbornness, we have to learn the same lessons over and over to understand a simple truth. Would you agree?
Don’t be like me in how I reacted to the delay. Be like me where you come back to God quickly and tell Him that you trust His timing. You trust Him to take care of you. You trust Him to keep you from being lonely. You trust Him to work in the pain. You trust Him in helping you with parenting. You trust Him in your finances. You trust Him to meet your needs. You trust Him in these perilous times. You. Trust. Him. With. It. All.
It’s quiet where I am today at the cabin. God used this morning to speak to me about my attitude while I had no distractions. In order for me to benefit from hearing His voice, I have 
to be obedient to pivot in my outlook, surrender my emotions and thinking, and turn it back over to Him. Then, in my case, be willing to share my “not so good behavior”, so that, others might identify and be encouraged to give it up to Him also. It reminds me of when I was a child and did something I shouldn’t do and my parents told me I had to go to that person and apologize or ask forgiveness for what I had done. I didn’t want to do that. But they were teaching me that we are responsible for our actions. God was teaching me this morning that I am responsible for how I react. And so, I was asked to share this with you because God wanted to teach me this lesson. I was to be, vulnerable that you might learn from me the way that God can also work in your life.
What do you need to pivot from today? I hope by sharing this scenario, that you too, will find peace in your circumstances. It’s time. Stand strong.
Until next time…
~JoAnn
It will definitely change how we look. The leaves are most beautiful when they fall off the branch…they are vibrant, in fact. Do you know that the color of yellow, orange, or even red, is present in the leaf all through the growing process? This means while the leaf is green, the colors are still there…BEFORE it turns color. The color has been there all along! That could preach right there!!! That means that through the process of letting go, our true colors or gifts or talents or passions, can show itself in us!! We will become vibrant with new life! I love that! When we allow God to move us and change us, we are best using what He has given us for His purposes.
God isn’t afraid to take us to school when we need it. So what are we afraid of when we hear living in the moment? It almost sounds irresponsible, or flying by the seat of our pants, doesn’t it? But really, that is not what it means, or at least not what I refer to when I talk about it. What makes us so afraid of it? And…why is living in the moment so hard for us? It could be that if we stopping running, or stop our hurried steps, we might FEEL. We don’t want to feel. So we keep so busy with life and responsibilities so that we don’t have to reflect on our true feelings or hurts. All our “tries” never seem enough. We may feel that we don’t measure up or we don’t feel worthy enough. But all this running is keeping us from dealing with the fact that it is a heart issue. We don’t want to deal with the feelings or the knowledge that comes from understanding that we really do know that we need to change something. So to keep from doing that, we keep busy, put a smile on our faces, and keep pretending things are ok. My hubby and I made a “live in the moment” decision for me to make the trip to Norway, and take my son and grandson with me. I called on ticket prices, asked my son if he would want to go and if my grandson could go, and booked the tickets. That all happened in one day’s time. If God gives you an idea, let Him work out the details. He put this opportunity to go on my hubby’s heart. God will work it all out when it’s His idea and His will!
His masterpiece. So just like that example, I ask God to reveal what is keeping me from happiness or joy when I have those feelings. He will then tell me and start the whittling process…chipping away at those things in my life that need to fall off.
But the one thing that I took back home with me from my trip to Norway is the connection with family and friends. How important it is for me, and for those around me to stay connected. It makes my soul happy and contented, even when life gets hard. Sharing life together. We need it. Dinners together, drives to do something as a family, and even putting down our phones long enough to really listen and share with each other. Making the effort to drive several hours two times in a week or so to be with your niece to love on her in a most difficult time in her life. God designed it that way. When we are running so busy that we don’t have time for stopping to comfort a child who is having a bad morning because we have things to do, or when we listen with our ears only instead of listening with our hearts to someone who is hurting, we are not living in the moment. We are too busy to even notice when God gives us an opportunity to minister to someone who needs it. Maybe not even with words, but just a hug or holding a hand. It can unlock the heart of the one who is needing a listening ear. That’s what slowing down our lives can look like. I saw those examples of support and listening when I visited Norway. They make an effort even when they may live further away from each other to stay connected. Connection is important to them. It is to me too. I take every opportunity to stay in touch with friends and family. One never knows when your call or text, or not in the mail, will be the one thing that gets them through the day.
There is a saying we have all probably heard that says to “live your one life well”. That means that where ever you are, be right there. I think the Norwegians have things right in that they work hard, and relax, and play hard. They know that the balance is needed for them to have joy in their lives. They balance the long, dark winters with being out in the light and sunshine as much as possible when Spring and Summer come. I saw a man in a large city in Norway sitting on a bench on a busy street with his shirt off just taking in the sunshine while it was there. Eyes closed, soaking in the sunlight. He lived in the moment. They make the coziness of their homes a priority so they DO enjoy the those long nights during winter…warm fires, candle light, and coffee or hot chocolate abounds. Knitting cozied up by the fire. They plan and do the things that prepare them for the winter months. They also look forward to the Holiday of Christmas and all being together. Balance…the key to joy.
to have connection, and THAT turns out to be priority. However, it took me some days to get that message. I was mad at myself for not getting better photos when I took them. I mean, who doesn’t want to come home with fantastic photos from such a beautiful country???? I missed some, and others were like on tours where you are moving through an area, and spending time setting up a photo isn’t necessarily what you have time for. I got pretty upset with myself. As I prayed about it, God showed me that the pictures I was taking were to remember. I’m not in a contest for the best photo. The connections are what is important and remembering them. So even though many of my photos were from a car window, that was ok. Because I had that memory. It also transferred to when I am at home. It isn’t important for me to be some great photographer. What is important, is that I DO hone my skills, but it is to take better photos in what ever circumstance, not to be in any competition for the best photo of the day or to BE the best. I love photography and I want to keep enjoying it. When I start putting undue pressures on myself to do it differently, that is when I realize, that I’m getting off course. A person could see my whole life through my photos. That is what I want with my photography. That others will see how I live and my philosophy and maybe be encouraged to take some of the steps I have taken to have joy in living.
I believe, I’m in another chipping off season in my life, and that is ok. He gave me a trip to Norway to show me what is important in the way I live MY life. So I leaned in close in Norway. I learned about the ways of making coffee can be an art. Now I know that from coffee shops, but it can be like that at home also. I don’t like coffee that much, but I learned to like it the way my cousin made it. So I asked how she did it. I loved many of the foods I ate, and I asked how to make it. I wanted to absorb as much of the culture as I could. Not just BE there, but to live in the moment of every day there. I learned about the history of the immigrants, like my grandparents on both sides of my family and why they made the decisions that they made to move away from everything they knew to come to the unknown in the U.S. How those that were here in the U.S. would work so hard so that they could send money home or tickets home for their family to come to the U.S. I learned how some couldn’t stay in the U.S. because they missed the beauty of Norway and they came back home. Some were so destitute living here that they took their lives before admitting to family at home of their despair. We as kids who grew up around our parents talking about the depression, and all the fun many of us made out of them walking to school with holes in their shoes and walking miles to school, isn’t so far of a stretch. I know it to be true of my father’s parents and even his older siblings. I have found a new respect for each of them searching for a better life, and their tenacity to keep going. It’s amazing, actually. I don’t take that for granted and wished as young child, I would have known more about what they went through. I think I would have been a much more attentive granddaughter. But they didn’t talk about it at all. Neither did my parents. As children we missed so much. I don’t want my kids to not know about them. Thus, I took my two sons and my grandson with me the two times I have gone. I want all my ancestor’s hard work to make a life for their families, to survive as a story and testament to their courage. I am here because of the hard work of all who came before me, including my parents. What work ethics they had! Families stuck together through thick and thin, and helped each other. That is legacy.
I hope this last trip is not my last. I have more to learn…more to experience…more time on the beach in Norway with neighbors and relatives around a bonfire! More letters to read. I copied 
some of my mother’s letters to relatives in Norway that were written to my cousin. Sometimes I find out more about my mom through reading them. I took pictures of old pictures so that I can share them with family, and they will know who they are. I have decided that writing on as many of the pictures I have, is important, since many of my parents’ pictures did not have names on them.
Recently at our home, we had a beautiful couple days of soft snow fall. I loved looking out my cabin windows, which run all the way around my cabin, and watching the snow. Everything is covered in a blanket of clean, white snow. The Holy Spirit reminded me of how Jesus covers our sin through His death on the cross, and we are washed as white as snow. I had just been reading something that came to mind as I watched that falling snow. The thought was that our life changes at the moment we accept Christ. It isn’t just about sin. It means, that as an example, a new JoAnn is created at the time I accepted Christ, and now God has a relationship with that new JoAnn. So.. it isn’t just about being forgiven of sins. It is also about a brand new relationship as this new person. As this new person, I now have a relationship with Him; not as the old me, but as the new me. He relates to the new me! 
we can go in. God wants us to step into the water in faith, and then see Him part the waters and bring us through. 
journeysofmyheart.com 