In His Shadow

I knew the minute I heard the phrase that I would have to write about it.  It was one of those "light bulb" moments.  Time stood still, my brain activated, and away I went--thoughts running at full throttle.

Our pastor was reliving a moment when he and his wife were walking their dogs in the hot desert sun, they were worried about them becoming overheated and she remarked--I wish we could teach them to walk in our shadow.  

Immediately God whispered in my ear--are you walking in my shadow?  I don't think I heard a word after that--not really.  Because all I could do was pray and ask God to reveal to me, just how I should, would, and could walk in His shadow.  I sat there praying asking Him to please help me to walk in the shadow of God Almighty.  I was completely overwhelmed as I began to realize what that concept entailed.

For me it meant protection.  And as I thought about the word protection, well, just look at what it means--He is my defense, my security, my shield, my preservation, my conservation, my safe keeper, my safeguard, my sanctuary, my shelter, my refuge, my immunity, my insurance, my indemnity.  I could go on.  Believe me, I could go on.  

There have been more times in my life than I could ever count where I have leaned on and depended on my God for all those things.  If I did not have the relationship with Him that I do--I wonder, would I even recognize Him as He protects me each and every day, would I even see Him?  In all my years of serving Him--have I learned to walk His shadow?   

So this is my prayer today, that I learn to walk in the shadow the most high God.  That I see Him and feel Him working all around me, in every aspect of my life.  And mostly, that I stay within the perimeters of His shadow.   

Just Different

It hit me hard this morning--how different our lives are out here in the midwest.  Not bad, just not the same.  in a few weeks, we will have been here for 15 years.  15 years!  It's so hard for me to wrap my brain around that little piece of information.  I'm a Californian, not a midwesterner.  I think, feel and act like a Californian.  Really, I do.  And yet--everything is so different here.  And I hate to admit this--I think I have changed.  The last 15 years have been so very different from the first 45 years of my life.  So I guess I am now 1/4 midwestern.  

What started this thread of thought?  I was driving home from dropping my husband off at the train station.  Yes, I just said train station.  That's not something I ever said, let alone did in California.  Ever.  Oh, we rode on BART when in San Francisco but that's about it.  And yet, today my husband had a meeting in "the city" so he took Metra in to avoid having to look for a parking place.  It's common out here in the midwest--trains, I mean.  And now after living here in Chicagoland for 4 years, we have become accustomed to train travel.  And not only for work--shopping too!  When did that happen?  

And then there is the weather.  For that is the next logical place that my little brain went--weather.  It's coming upon Autumn here in the midwest.  Soon, all will be bright yellow, orange and red.  The colors are mind blowing.  Not in California though.  Our fall colors are brown.  That's it.  Brown.  I'm not kidding.  Green to brown to on the ground.  And then winter would come.  We might throw on a jacket or sweater, we still needed our sunnies, and by March we were cleaning our pool and getting ready for summer.  Here?  Well, by November, we are gearing up for snow.  All outdoor furniture goes into storage.  I don't BBQ in the winter here (although my husband can't understand why not) and during the winter I no longer sit outside and read, and I don't ride my bike.  It pretty much stays that way until May.  Until after the thaw.  

Yes, everything is different out here.  From what I shop for to what I wear.  From the types of cars, we drive to thinking about snow removal service.  Yes, it's very different here.  From rain dates to snow days.  It's just not the same.  And I wonder--have I changed?  Have I grown hardier?  Because I feel a little bit like a pilgrim sometimes.  Wow, that's going to be hard to explain.  And why a pilgrim?  I'll need to ponder this a bit, and maybe come back to it later or not.

I guess when I truly think this through, it's the conversations that we now have that surprise me.  We talk a lot more about the weather, however, it's not due to boredom or just passing the time, it's due to preservation.  We talk about train schedules.  For now, they are important too.  And we talk about outdoor patios--for they are no longer taken for granted, as they are seasonal here.   We have favorite "winter" restaurants and favorite "summer patio, I don't care what the food tastes like" restaurants.  Yes, very strange conversations.  About different things.  We used to talk about chlorine and floaties.  

Life has changed for us--in oh so many ways.  I do wonder sometimes what my life would look like had I stayed in California.  I know one thing--I wouldn't have learned half of what I know now.  For I now understand another way of life.  I kind of like that.  I like learning and growing and changing.  I like experiencing new things.  For they are not bad, they are just different.  

And now I must stop writing--I just received a text from husband--he's coming in on the 4:40 and can I pick him up at the train station?   Sure, here I come!