looking back at the road so far

I was just re-reading blogs that I wrote while living in Barbados. I should really be sleeping but my mind is not yet ready to rest. These past writings really took me back to the first very confusing, kind of scary, faith stretching days. The days where it took 3 times as long to do anything or go anywhere. The days where everyone looked the same and you couldn't remember one from another. The days when you plopped into bed at night and woke up the next morning with no idea what the next 12 hours would hold. Those were the days.

I listen to country radio now. I started maybe 2 years ago and have increasingly done it more and more. There's a song that plays and it has a line that really strikes me every time i hear it. It goes "you're gonna miss this. you're gonna want this back." Really this song rings true. When I think of Barbados I do miss it, i do want it back. I want to enjoy the days of lying on the beach, or sitting on a board waiting for a set. I miss walking down the hill and getting pizza at the Esso. I miss watching people on the bus and watching TV, well DVDs really, with the team. Most of all I miss the friendships I made and the laid back way people relate. I miss my roommate Ricquel. It took me so long to get to understand her and now I miss her uniqueness. I could go on and on. Don't even get me started on foods that I miss (fishcakes, macaroni pie and the lasagna from out back of the Guild.)

All this to say that this last year was so amazing and I wish i appreciated it more when it was happening; that I built deeper relationships and spent more time with girls.
So now I am in a new place. A place that still has surf and sun (blessing!) and new people to meet and get to know. This phrase, this line of a song, is my reminder to not let these days go by without appreciation. To enjoy where God has me now and not get caught up in the "what's next" part. Or even the desires I have for my future. I want to be able to operate today with a full heart and mind open to what God has planned for today. They say that America is a very future oriented country. I think Barbados is more a present oriented country. Maybe some of their thinking has rubbed off. I still plan and get excited for what's coming up, but I want to make sure I still get more excited about what's going on right now around me.

Here's to today. And tomorrow will come... tomorrow. I plan to enjoy all this sunshine and beach to the fullest, but even more to enjoy this season that God has placed me. To enjoy my new SV team and highschool students, and team talks, and following God in a new place with a new ministry. Sometimes we're trying so hard to see where God is leading next that we're not aware of where he has us right now.