Global positioning system

I read the scriptures because the apostle Paul says it "guides man to salvation". That's a map I want to follow. I have felt terribly lost in my life. Not any more. Having a map certainly helps. The scriptures are a spiritual GPS that tells me how to get from wherever I am right now on the map, to the spiritual destination of my choice. The Point B to my current Point A.The scriptures also help me to choose wisely. Like that old saying. If you are headed nowhere in particular, that's likely where you will end up; no where in particular. Well this year so far I have been to five countries. The picture I chose is from the fields of Jutland, when I was in Denmark this spring.

Right now I'm trying to find that balance between making things happen, and accepting that everything that comes my way is a gift from God. I've struggled for too long. Tried so hard that it hurts. Now is a time of rejoicing on how far I've come and how much I have learned. Now is a time of looking back at the hand of God in my life so far with my eyesight being improved with better perspective. Although my key goal is to stay in the moment, not looking back and not looking forward. I was frustrated at the beginning of 2018. I agonized: "How can I make plans?" We could not settle down and agree to what we wanted to do, or how we wanted to do it. I drove myself nuts with this. Decisions made today include an eye of the future I want, right? We were house sitting for a good friend, but it would not be feasible to stay there much longer than the 3 months we were already there. I needed a future I could see. In the beginning of January I did not know we would come to this fantastic house in the mountains overlooking the gulf of Nicoya, full of orange trees shading coffee plants, in a town of 800 friendly people. I should not have worried.
In the beginning of February I had no idea we would end up planning a trip to Asia, leaving in April. We talked of a trip somewhere, with an endless stream of destinations/options. It was only 3 weeks between when Ron bought the tickets and we were on a flight to Hong Kong. I should not have worried.
We stayed for 3 months and I felt like I needed to know what was next, since the return tickets were on the calendar. My daughter told me that she was pregnant! My first child having their first child. Oh, how I wanted to be there for that. I ended up applying for my old job back home 2 weeks before we were supposed to head back and was immediately accepted. I should not have worried.
We set up shop back in Utah and I was working in a different department with my company and I learned a lot but the job was very demanding (expected that) and the schedule was a nightmare, often changing daily (that was new). I walked around tired a lot, but my husband and I were able to be there for my daughter and her husband when my granddaughter Xoey made her entrance into this world. And it was a glorious thing. Yet at the same time my husband's health wasn't going well, and my job was as demanding as ever with additional training requirements. So he bought tickets back to Costa Rica. After 5 months in the US we were back relaxing in Costa Rica with my Mom by the end of the year (she has lived there for over 20 years now). I should not have worried, which is my reoccurring theme.

Despite all the unnecessary fretting over having plans, it turned out to be quite the year!

So I had one resolution for 2019. To have no resolutions. Well,sort of. I resolved to stop what I'd been doing and try something new. A leap of faith. A time of rest (mentally). I would give up needing plans. I would let God bring me whatever He wanted to bless me with in 2019, and I would keep my opinions out of it as much as possible. The goal was a year with a lot more trust in the Divine Nature of things, and a lot more gratitude.
Well, today is December 1st and what a year it has been! We spent the first month in Costa Rica, not knowing that in February we would be flying to Mexico for the first time. We arrived the second week of February with the idea of staying for a month. Within a week of arriving we signed a 6 month lease. We saw amazing ancient sites, swam in underwater rivers, I learned to scuba dive in the Caribbean sea, and it was phenomenal. I also took a last minute trip to Denmark to see my father and family. Yes, my father lived in Denmark, and my mother in Costa Rica. Shortly after my father died in March, my second granddaughter came in April. What a way to see clearly the whole circle of life. It was joy and concern all intertwined. It's a good thing I was trying to be more trusting, I think this event altered my goal from merely accepting what was brought to me, into fully trusting God in all things, not just some. My son's daughter was born three months early, at the tender weight of one pound and nine ounces. (We arrived back in Las Vegas two months later, the same day little Aurelia finally came home from the hospital) After five months in Mexico at the last minute we found a house online to rent back in Utah again. As in, my husband got the idea on a Monday morning, and the lease was signed within three days. So we left Mexico and settled in a house with my daughter and her family, to share the demands of life from rent to childcare. Xoey is full of fun and making faces. And the update is that Aurelia is now seven months old and doing fabulous, we were able to make many trips back to Las Vegas to see her and her parents.
We had church in English, and it was wonderful. I spent time with old friends, and made some new ones. Then it was time to take of my husband's health again, so after five months back in the US we have come back to Costa Rica for a bit. At this rate I have to ask, what all could happen in this last month of this epic year? Hopefully more of the same trust in His care. Along with a sense of divine blessings that fills me with gratitude. More of this glorious peace that comes from my testimony of Jesus Christ and my Heavenly Father.
Oh, and remind me to tell you about the book I have been writing this year, it's having faith in a time of great anxiety. Maybe that will be my next post.