Recently, three circumstances have converged in my life and the result is this blog.  First of all, I was in a bible study and during the course of the study, we were instructed to ask God to reveal Himself each day.  Not necessarily in grand sweeping gestures, but in quiet, personal nuances and impressions.  Without a doubt an aspiration worth pursuing and long overdue.

Secondly, I’ve been reading a novel that documents one woman’s search for identity, purpose, peace, and ultimately some version of God.  At one point in the novel, she is instructed to “Look for God.  Look for God like a man with his head on fire looks for water.”  That advice struck a chord, which brings me to the third circumstance.  For some time now, I have felt God painfully distant and quite honestly, difficult to find.  As various events in my life have either culminated or dissipated, His presence has all too often eluded me.

So all these things have brought me to this place. To the place where I am resolved and resigned to find some hint, some glimmer, some facet of God each and every day.  For me, that search involves writing.  I find that as I formulate thoughts and translate them into ink on paper (or pixels on screen as is the case), the revelations come faster and clearer.  Don’t get me wrong.  I fully anticipate that this journey will produce as many questions as answers, as many frustrations as comforts.  But isn’t this the very nature of a journey?  To spur on further knowledge and searching?  To leave just enough questions unanswered so you’re hungry for more?

Many years ago, I traveled to Africa, and to this day it remains one of my most pivotal and life-changing experiences.  Although it was glorious beyond words for the most part, there were times when it was rough and uncomfortable.  But despite stolen passports, insufficient funds, difficult language barriers, and a whole slew of minor glitches, when I stepped off the plane stateside, the resounding emotion I had was, “When can I go back?”  That is exactly what I am counting on for this spiritual voyage.  I am hoping to finish this particular leg of the trip with an overwhelming desire and need to begin again.  I am hoping to find that the journey, rather than the destination, is home.  That when I find what I am seeking, I stop only long enough to take a breath and gather my supplies before diving right back in.

My dear friends, my head is on fire and I will seek water till the flames are quenched.  I’m happy you’re along for the ride and praying you each find something in this blog that you can pack in your own suitcase to help you on your journey.