One Sleep...

One sleep to go and we'll be on our travels. It's been an amazing six weeks as we've prepared to leave home. More emotional than I'd thought as I sifted through my son's childhood possessions and sorted them for keeping or passing them on to a needy child; flicking through photo albums and remembering special times at home, and other travels we'd been on.

I shed tears for the closed chapters of my life, but it was also a time to share with my son where we'd been in the past nineteen years and where our dreams and hopes may lead us in the future. Those six weeks were filled with bonding experiences that we will never forget.

While we embark on our new adventure, our son, Dan is embarking on his own with full-time employment and a possible opportunity to live and work in America within twelve months. So it's not change just for us but for Dan, too. And that's the exciting thing about life. We never know where it's going to take us. The tears and reminiscing are part of the journey and it's important to take the time to live these special moments. God always said to me that Dan was mine only for the first twenty years of his life, and now that the reality of him reaching for his independence is here, it's quite a challenge to accept the finality of him becoming independent as he continues to live at home with friends.

However, with us leaving home, the transition has been that much easier. I have much to look forward to with the travelling and release of African Hearts. It's left me wondering how others who don't have a travelling adventure to look forward to cope with this change. I'd be interested to hear how others have lived through this part of their journey. Please leave a comment.

The past few weeks have also seen the final proofing for African Hearts being completed and ready for printing. Much work goes into this phase of the book's production that I'd never thought about until now. These learning experiences inspire me to lift the bar higher for my next work which is already well under way. Being on the road will refill my creative well and enrich my writing in new and extraordinary ways.

I'm thankful for this opportunity to travel and write. Another great thing about our travels is being able to connect with my husband on a deeper level. The years of child rearing and earning a living can strain a marriage in many ways, and being able to re-connect and form new bonds and reminisce about the past will bring a deeper intimacy to our relationship that I'm really looking forward to.

I'm looking forward to sharing our Writing All Over Australia journey with you every few days, so make sure you stop by to see what we're up to.

Relationships

Building relationships were once a challenge for me. Sometimes I felt so disconnected from people I wondered if I was on this earth. I was here physically, but mentally and emotionally I may as well have been floating around in cyberspace. It's not that I didn't want to connect. I wanted to be part of people's lives and them a part of mine.

Thankfully God has transformed me in a way I never thought possible.

My heart aches for people who are hurting. Some people don't know they are hurting. Their pain touches my heart in a way that I become so overwhelmed I can't find the words to say to them. This was the case last Sunday at my church. I was sitting with a woman who trusted me enough to talk about her daughter who'd had a stroke a couple of years ago. My heart squeezed hard when she told me the story of her daughter's recovery. I was so overwhelmed I couldn't find words to comfort her. Her journey with her daughter has been difficult as she has come to accept her daughter's disability and the stress on her daughter's family.

Our conversation ended with me feeling I had somehow failed that woman. Not by choice, but by needing time to digest what she told me. Had I missed an opportunity to connect with one of God's hurting children?

I haven't stopped analysing that conversation and my feelings toward this woman. I concluded I needed time with Jesus to work through my hesitation in being emotionally honest with her. Way down deep inside of me, my spirit told me she needed space to process her grief. This woman needed someone to sit and listen, really listen to what she was saying.

I saw her two days ago and she gave me the biggest smile. My heart swelled with love for her. Gagging on my words the week before was God telling me this woman only needed someone to listen. Not everyone needs lots of words, nor do they need physical touch. Instead they need a person to sit and listen to them with all of themselves. I'm glad I listened and waited for God's prompting, because something has changed in this woman since the last time I saw her. God gave me the understanding of what it means to sit and just be and the amazing effect this can have on someone who is hurting.

Have you ever been with someone and wished you had spent the time with them differently?