you've got the love.

First of all, I need to say that I have the cutest class in the world.  And I am completely in love with who they are.

Second.  I have very good news.  The Easter candy has already been stocked.  And there are even more jelly bean flavors this year than last.  I was so excited that I greeted everyone who walked down the aisle.  I think I may have even skipped.

Why do I know this?  I just got home from grocery shopping because... I am back home!  I am sitting in my cute little apartment surrounded by everything Tasha and I do not want to go to bed because it is so good to just be here.  Tonight, sleep feels like a waste of time.

Yesterday was Valentine's Day.  Another sugary, sweet day.  But an odd one. And I think it is because there are so many hidden expectations, impossible expectations attached to it that have nothing to do with love.  

It is enough to make me want to run away.  And so that is what I did.

Catherine and I dressed in our best North Idaho garb and hit the road.  I wore a dress with giraffes on it and she pigtailed her hair.  Today, I'll believe in mountains God.  I'm not sure about man.  Not today.  We ended up heading for Montana.  And it was lovely indeed.

Where should we go?  What should we do?

Let's just go.  We'll figure the details out on the way. 


Really?  Just go?

Yes.  Really.  Let's find a little diner and get some breakfast.  Then we'll stop in all of the small towns and stay until we're ready to move again.  This is life.  You can't plan the good things, you have to let them happen.  Figure out your direction and let yourself twist a bit on the way.  Maybe you'll surprise yourself.  Maybe He'll show you something you wouldn't have looked for. 

Give yourself the chance to get lost.  Give yourself the chance to be found.

It was a smashing success.  I read Job while we drove through mountains that touch the sky and valleys that remind you of how painfully beautiful life is.  We talked about the questions that you start asking when you're sixteen. 

The ones that you never stop asking.

We turned the music up, we turned the music off.  Pulled off the road and went on a hike in our dresses.  Drank small town coffee and taught an old woman how to use a camera. 

This is what it's all about, isn't it God?  It's about taking a day to wrestle life for someone weaker than yourself.  It's going forward even when you aren't sure what lies ahead.  It's believing in a good ending.