moving like the moon

i've been in a season of WAITING on the Lord this year- for anyone that knows me well, you'll know what i mean. but, what an incredible year of seeing His faithfulness working in our lives. although at any given moment it can seem like nothing is happenning as we wait and pray, really a lot has, and going over my journals from the past year has been so good tonight- God has brought us far. if we aren't careful, we almost always forget the things He does for us. yesterday i was reminded of a thought i had during my devotions about a year ago, so i looked it up in my journals. i thought i'd share it with you here. hopefully this thought makes sense to you! it was really a blessing to me. for exposition, it's useful for you to know that when the weather isn't freezing, i have my quiet time outside on our patio, where when you sit in the corner just right, you can't see any buildings and just the sky and the hills around us are in view. at this particular time the moon was directly above my head every morning. here is an excerpt from my entry on august 26, 2005:

"the world is turning, but i am sitting still... as i sit here this morning, the earth is spinning, the moon is moving. i am sitting. as i sit and think and pray about all the things that occupy my mind-- two things that don't look in motion- the earth and moon- are, although even as i look at them they look completely still. if i didn't have proof from past experiences to know they're moving, no one could convince me otherwise. you can't see the moon or earth moving at all as it happens- until you realize, "hey, when i sat down the moon was somewhere above my head. now it's above that hill in front of me." unless you remember where it was, you never appreciate how significantly far it has come, without even realizing what was going on in the process.

looking at the moon, it seems motionless- surely the earth isn't spinning either! then bam, you realize that this huge planet/moon has moved quite a bit. it just happens so smoothly and gradually you can't see it at the moment. it seems that's how God moves in my life most of the time-- and if i didn't journal, i'd never notice how far i've been taken. all of the sudden, i'll realize i have so much peace about something that i used to be torn up about-- the torn up part seems distant, until i realize that was just 3 days ago, and now so much resolution has happened. we're so selfish as people- very wrapped up in our moments, and as soon as we move on to the next thing, we forget what we just went though-- most importantly, we forget where God has taken us to/from and all the good things He does in our lives."

i hope that all made sense. i have a few really amazing stories of instant deliverance from a struggle, and a few of huge, amazing, instant answers to prayers-- but most of my journey with the Lord has been just that-- a journey. a step by step walk where i try to stay close to Him and keep the communication lines open as i go through all the joys and struggles of life. it's amazing to think of all the times i've felt like God was not listening! and certainly wasn't changing whatever it was i wanted to change! but, it's fascinating to read my journal entries to see what i prayed about each day and even though i wasn't aware of how much He was doing at the time, in retrospect He was moving situations, bringing resolution, and most importantly making my HEART right at an almost constant pace and in one graceful, fluid motion over the course of days, months, a year, He's made a beautiful picture from the fragments i started with.