Living in the Middle

Starting on a new adventure is exciting and a little scary. The rush of adrenaline and the anticipation fuel your start. Ending the adventure or seeing things come together is exciting and scary. The maturing of hopes and dreams makes all the journey seem worthwhile. 

But the middle...well, the middle is not so exciting and maybe not very scary. Lots of other emotions and feelings, ups and downs. Lots of questions and wondering if, somehow, a turn was missed or a call ignored.

Right now, that's where I feel we are. Trudging through the middle. Following possibilities that lead nowhere. Watching for signposts that are really dead ends.

But through all that, we know that God is faithful. God is always faithful. Recently I read this verse:

Praise the Lord, all nations! Glorify Him, all peoples! For His faithful love to us is great; the Lord ’s faithfulness endures forever. Hallelujah! (Psalms 117:1-2)

The unexpected email from someone who thought I may be interested in writing for an education Web site. More writing assignments that I could ever expect to get. A message for a interim teaching position. These have all been signposts that God is still working, messages of His continued faithfulness. 

Even if most of these don't bear out exactly as I hope. It's hard not to get excited or to see possibilities when talking about new ventures with someone. And then when nothing seems to happen because of it, it's easy to feel rejected and dejected. Especially when you spend most days alone at home, typing on a computer. 

The thoughts can swirl in your head, thoughts that tell you of dead ends and missed calls. 

But God is faithful. Trusting and praising that faithfulness gets us through the middle. 

We're learning more about God and our relationships to Him. That's the truth of the middle. It's a time of learning and growing. Praising and trusting. The excitement of the beginning and the joy of the end are sweetened by the long middle. That's where we see the faithfulness of God and learn how to live in that faithfulness.

His faithfulness endures forever! Hallelujah!