It was June 2006. I sat across the water on the Plaza San Marco side, at a small table at an outdoor cafe. Sketch pad in hand, and just wrapped up in my own little world, I pulled out my handy-dandy oil pastels and enjoyed sketching the gondolas floating in front of me. They were lined up, nice and tidy, and brilliant in color.
It was my first trip across that big pond we call the Atlantic Ocean. It could be said that when I do something, I go full in, and don't do it step by step. As frightened as I had always been to fly across all that water, I did it, and then got on a tour bus for two week. A bus filled mostly with strangers.
And yet it opened an entirely new world for me. I made up my mind to step out of my sheltered little box and talk to people I did not know and to learn something about their lives. It was a pretty exciting experience. My traveling companions did other things, but meeting the new folks was not one of them. We all had fun and I think we would do it again anytime.
And when we got home, life got busy and we picked up where we left off. And life went on. We all do wonderful things with our lives and we all cling to Christ as central to it all, but that summer trip will always stand out in my mind as something wonderful. A blip on the screen of a lifetime of opportunities, and yet something about that day always has drawn my heart back to Venice. As in Italy.
It has been an interesting two months. God has been so present, yet in ways different from a year ago. A year ago, I was wondering what my life would be without Roger. How would I cope, what was it going to be like to be alone, and yet not always alone, for family was always near. But different. I was in no way prepared to lose a soul-mate on that beautiful February afternoon, and yet, God has carried me through the saddest moments of my life and allowed me to still see the sun rise each morning and to feel the warmth of His presence in a constant way.
Here we are a year later. I face a new challenge. As big, I think, and yet, most days it does not seem unsurmountable, even when I hear 'Stage 4." Life still seems bright, perhaps because I know He is here and that I am not going through this alone.
Last year I saw red cardinals constantly. I have not seen one this year. Yet, God has place friends from near and far on my doorstep these last months. Sometimes I wonder if they come because they want to see me before I die. Then I laugh with them and find myself wondering if they just came because there is this special bond that we have, that we both realize that we don't want to miss. It is special anyway! And I need to get out and do more visiting! Oh...for the day I am free to get behind my steering wheel again!
Today I spent time meticulously putting the final touches on another trip. It was exciting, and I am not even doing it for myself. Every year when I put together the travel opportunity for the high school students, I ask God where He would have them go. It is never random. I like to go where He leads, and discover the why of it all when I get there.
This year we bounced back and forth between Provence and Tuscany. I was leaning toward Provence because I have this amazing French tour guide who I knew would help us embrace this region - it's beauty and it's slow pace. But doors kept closing. My heart always is drawn to Tuscany - Florence, center of the Renaissance. But this trip was not for me. Where did God want these kids to go? It came down to days and money. No matter how many ways I searched, no matter how many companies, one trip kept rising to the top. One company still had the best price and the most of what we care about. Fly into Milan, then Venice, Florence, Assisi and Rome.
We made a decision and committed. And then it hit me.
Milan. I was headed to Milan in January 2015 when God clearly stopped me. Was He showing me that Milan was the destination but 2015 was not the time?
Venice. A place I have always wanted to visit again. God knew that and I had not even thought about it for the longest time. Is it possible.......
Florence. Home of Michelangelo's "David" and those amazing Baptistry Doors that I share about so often - the depiction of Heaven and Hell is beyond outstanding.
And Rome - I did throw my coins in the fountain, after all!
Is it possible that I might be allowed to travel with young people again? If not, it is certainly that carrot out on a stick that will help to push me to make wise choices and be well again. Not for the travel, but for that experience I love so much of sharing God's world with young people. That opportunity to help them see how small we all are in the vastness of it all, and yet how very important each of us is to Christ. To help them know that God has a beautiful and meaningful plan for their lives and to encourage them to stay on the straight path and follow His lead, and let Him open the doors before them. To help them see the world as Christ views the world and not as man views it.
I don't have an answer for January 2016, but as long as God leaves the way open, I will do as Roger always said....
Roger's Lesson: Keep planning for tomorrow, and next week, and next month, and next year - just be sure you remain ready to depart today, for you may be called....or better yet, the trumpet may sound!
And if I truly do get back to Venice, I will certainly have a sketch journal in my hand, and I will find that same cafe and likely see gondolas. And I will ask God to show me something new and I will thank Him for what He has brought to my little life. And who knows, maybe one of those adorable Italian artists will stop at my table once again say " I saw you on the walk! Tu sei l'artista! (You are the artist!) "
Ah! No, God is the artist, the true Creator. I just get to be blessed with a little bit the wonder of seeing His world in a very special way.
And it is only a taste of what Heaven will be!
