we have not gone this way before

I keep coming here to write,
and then leave having not really written anything
The past weeks - months I guess- have been so full and busy
Many things to think back on and ponder and sort through
Hard to put down in words I guess
On June 12th my Ryan married his sweetheart - Rachel
It was a beautiful wedding for two wonderful people
Now there is a new family!
The planning and orchestrating of the day
was really all Rachel and her mom's doing
They kept me up to date on the plans, but they did the leg work
and it was simply beautiful.
I was really pretty stressed early in the week of the wedding
It was a strange feeling, very anxious, which isn't really like me
Then as the week went on (and many prayers were said)
I felt a peace and comfort - a real change
and the rest of the week was fine.
Now, 3 weeks later, they have been home here for a couple of days
They honeymooned in Hawaii for 13 days and returned happy
and ready to push ahead with their future.
It has been great to see them
They are wonderfully different now
something amazing happens when two become one in marriage
their is a bond that is different
I just love the transition.
Mark and Steph have been over with them
and the family just feels good
Now Rachel is officially one of us and it feels more right.
I am so thankful that God is weaving all of this together
He has a plan and He is laying it out in front of us.
We don't really know where He is leading,
We have not gone this way before.
but we are trusting in the assurance that HE KNOWS
He HAS gone this way before -
so we just have to follow.
I heard a missionary speak recently about following God
on a road not familiar
How we have to have our focus not on the circumstances
but on God.
He said something to the effect that
When the road is a new one to us
remember - it is an old one to God
He has it all planned out -
and has had it planned from the beginning of time.
It is all familiar territory to Him.
Our family is branching off
and taking roads going in new and different directions-
Ryan and Rachel will leave soon for St. Louis
and a new home
and a new job (Ryan)
and Med School (Rachel)
and the next chapter of their life
Mark and Steph will continue to push ahead with their plans
and wait patiently for God's guidance and timing
Hallie Ann will start the adventure of college
Tommy and Steve and I will keep on following and trusting
It is all unknown and uncertain to us -
but none of it is unknown or uncertain to God
I am so glad that it isn't all about us
It IS all about God
This is all His story
I just have to let Him give me my next part day by day
After all the busy-ness of the this spring and summer
That is the best comfort that there is
Now, I just need a little peace and  quiet to re-charge
and then be ready for what ever is next.