As Deep as it Gets (for now)

CJ started summer daycamp this week. At the beginning of each summer, she has to pass a swim test before she's allowed in the deep end of the pool. Pretty easy for a former swim team member. Still, she really doesn't like having to take the test. She feels she's proven herself already. Why go through it again?

I've been asking myself the same question. I've been working hard these past months to change my life...my family's life...and it's still not done. I think I'm getting there, and another obstacle pops up out of nowhere. Another test to pass, deeper waters to navigate. Maybe that's what life really is...a series of tests. Some we pass with flying colors and others trip us up before we're out of the blocks.

When I look back at the progress I've made during the first half of my pursuit of peace and simplicity, I am amazed by what God's done. I'm also frustrated that we're not further (farther?) along. Part of me thought that it might all be finished by now, yet I have the distinct feeling that the upcoming part of the journey is going to be much bumpier than the first half.

Falling to the depths...stripping everything away and letting it go...was scary. Leaving it there and climbing back up the mountain...learning to live life without all the excess baggage...will be exhausting & perhaps even excruciating. Yet uphill I must go.

I’m pressing on the upward way,
New heights I’m gaining every day;
Still praying as I’m onward bound,
Lord, plant my feet on higher ground.

-Higher Ground
Lyrics by Johnson Oatman, Jr.