Flying.

Hello.

This past weekend I was in Chicago for a wedding. In the airport on the way down I was talking with one of my friends. He asked me if I liked flying to which I responded, "I don't always particularly like the taking off and landing part, but I like being up in the clouds."

This trip was no exception. I, once again, did not particularly enjoy the take offs; however, my flight home was incredible.

I took my seat on the plane. Buckled myself in. The plane started to move and elevate off the ground. I could see everything below me. Then, clouds surrounded the plane and I couldn't see anything, but then....we rose above the clouds and I saw the most beautiful, absolutely beautiful view. I can't explain it. I really can't. Words wouldn't give it all justice to the beauty and clarity that I saw. I felt as if my world had been expanded ten times over and my breath was taken away. Deep, deep awe rested on that moment - and the moments that followed. I sat and stared out the window...completely captivated by what I saw and felt.

This past summer I wrote a song. Part of the lyrics read:

Waiting, I'm waiting
But I've never waited like this before
Cause I'm learning how to breathe
Resting in His peace
Finding my wings
Preparing to fly
...while I wait.

This whole experience down in Charlotte, North Carolina has been incredible, but it was a rough start. I couldn't help but think that this flight back to Charlotte was a beautiful representation of a life in Christ. There are times we wait, we wait on Him, to hear Him, to be restored by Him, to seek Him, to find rest in Him. We simply wait. But then He calls. He calls us to action, to take flight. I'm not sure what I expected everything to be like when I wrote this song, what the "flight" would actually look and feel like. Something beautiful I suppose.

But it didn't all seem beautiful as I took off. It wasn't at all like I had planned, nor what I expected. I struggled a lot and my vision was cloudy. But the clouds are breaking free and so am I.

Day by day, year by year, season to season, chapter to chapter, God takes our souls and our beings out flying - through adventures, through opportunities, through work environments, through our interactions, through our children, through our family, through our friends. He takes us flying. He takes us on adventures.

If God is calling you to wait, to wait on Him, then wait. Perhaps it would help to keep in mind that waiting isn't putting your life on hold, it's simply waiting. For me personally, I've come to love my time of waiting because I seem to rest best in Him during my times of waiting - I may be anxious to know what the next step is but I still find waiting a time where my heart finds much rest.

And If you're taking off, remember the "flight" might have a bumpy start, confusion and cloudiness may set in. Goodness knows, turbulence may even last the entire flight through, but fly....fly because when you get through the cloudiness of confusion, when you break through, your breath will be taken away by the beauty of our author's plan.

Wherever you find yourself in the flight, simply rejoice. Rejoice that His plans are far greater than we could dare to dream. They are to prosper and not to harm us. They are breath-taking.

If someone were to ask me if I liked what it meant to be a servant of Christ, I suppose my response would be quite similar to that I gave my friend, "I don't always particularly like the taking off and the landing part, but I love it when I'm soaring and I love it when I'm resting."

Cheering you on as your adventures continue.

May you find beauty and may you find rest.

Kaylee