Well, I drank the kool-aid and I've decided to start a blog.  I wanted my friends and family to have a chance to keep up with me and I wanted to have a record of this time of my life.  Big changes have already started and I feel like I'm rolling down a hill and picking up speed as I go.  On Friday, I finished my last day with my wonderful students at Hillgrove High School.  Graduation went well and it was the last time I had the opportunity to direct my choir.  Graduation is always bittersweet....it is such a time for celebration for the new adventures ahead, but it is also sad.  It can be so hard to say good-bye to people that we love. 

This particular season for me is bigger than just saying good-bye to seniors.  Most of you know by now that I am moving to Orlando to be closer to my sister Laura and to start a new chapter.  I have lived in Atlanta for the past 6 years and I just feel that it is time to move on and move forward.  There has been so much joy here with meeting new friends and growing in my faith, but joy and sorrow seem to go hand in hand.  I do believe that our times of suffering are some of the sweetest times.  These are the times that I am relying on God the most and falling more in love with Him.  I would not change what has happened to me these past 6 years, but I pray that I can use it to help others and continue to grow.  

I will be heading out of town at the end of June to move to Orlando with my friend Tiffany.  I can't think of a better gift than getting to go on a new journey with a friend.  God has put Tiffany and her family in my life and for that I am most thankful.  They have been my "Georgia" family and I have had some of the best times sitting in front of their fireplace and dinner table. There has been  SO much laughter and a bit of crying since our paths have crossed and I have a rolodex of amazing memories with this sweet family.  I'm learning the truth behind the saying, "home is where the heart is," because it doesn't matter where we go....home is when we are with family.

Quitting a good job and leaving great friends takes a major leap of faith.  I feel like Indiana Jones in the scene where he has to step off the cliff to find the next path on his journey.  I have to believe that God is guiding me and He will give me just enough to take that next step.  This takes TRUST... a word that I am slowly learning to love.  I am reading, again, "Ruthless Trust," by Brennan Manning and I have to share with you a few things from the book that has really hit me.  Get this book!  You will not be sorry!!

He says, " The way of trust is a movement into obscurity, into the undefined, into ambiguity, not into some predetermined, clearly delineated plan for the future.  The next step discloses itself only out of a discernment of God acting in the desert of the present moment.  The reality of naked trust is the life of a pilgrim who leaves what is nailed down, obvious, and secure, and walks the unknown without any rational explanation to justify the decision or guarantee the future. Why?  Because God has signaled the movement and offered it his presence and his promise."  This is exactly how I feel.  I have no idea what is ahead, but I'm trusting God in it all. Perhaps learning to trust Him more, is the point.  Hmmmmm.... 

Last one, he also says, " Anyone God uses significantly is always deeply wounded."  and "On the last day, Jesus will look us over not for medals, diplomas, or honors; but for scars.  I want to live with my arms wide open, but I know that means I will get hurt.  I'm still learning that to be fully alive means I have to risk.  To risk we have to trust and to trust we have to know that we are loved....deeply.  I believe that I am loved..... and so are you!

I know not if I will be a good blogger, but I will do my best to keep up with this next chapter. Every human life has a story to share.  Thank you for letting me share mine.

Until next time.......