~ a story yet to tell…

My coming to faith did not start with a leap but rather a series of staggers from what seemed like one safe place to another. Like lily pads, round and green, these places summoned and then held me up while I grew. Each prepared me for the next leaf on which I would land, and in this way I moved across the swamp of doubt and fear.

Anne Lamott, American writer

In summers of long ago we played a game called: who can hold your breath the longest while swimming underwater in our little, round above the ground pools dotted across our neighborhood.  Just like back then, there are moments in life when we blast up to the surface for that necessary gulp of air, to a stunning revelation.

To understand and accept that the new something, fill in the blank _________, has just not yet revealed itself, is as fresh and vital as that summer air. And even stronger is the sense that when the it does arrive, it’ll be known.  Just like that.

We can think something is the it we have been waiting for. But maybe only because we need it to be at that moment in time. There is a very big difference in willing it to be and allowing it to take root.

A treasured friend said to me last week: these are your lily pad days. Ahhhh, yes. Such wisdom. While walking on the peaceful golf course early evening a few days ago, I was thinking about next steps and where the road will take me.

And around the corner, just like that – a pond of lily pads, hundreds. All entangled and netted and woven together. I can’t remember the last time I saw such a sight. If ever. A coincidence that lily pads, holding promise for all they symbolize, just appear? Hardly.

Maybe the it will quietly enter through an open window or tiptoe in the side door. Not blast through the front door announcing itself directly, but perhaps indirectly, quietly-not boisterous. Like the pond of lily pads!

What I now know is that the Universe is forcing me to be patient, so that it can complete its work in my favor which will ultimately allow me to live in keeping with my gifts and to answer the question of where my hands and heart can best serve.

Until then, every lily pad is a possibility. And I wait at the waters edge to spring to the one that is calling out to me. Tap, tap. Wait, wait….all the while humming a tune and watching the vibrant sun set and the moon rise across the span of peaceful fairways and open greens. No big gulp of air, just calm breathing, in gratitude for every lily pad so far along the journey.