cotton candy clouds…

Whew.

Six weeks.  That’s how long its been since I’ve written.  This summer was adventurous, stressful, fun, exhausting, strenuous, eventful and fulfilling in so many ways.

We traveled and made memories.  We saw precious family and friends, new and old.  We visited places we hadn’t seen before and those we hadn’t seen in a really long time.  And, we loved.  We loved each other and our people…and all the while there was this aching to get home. An aching for the Rez that couldn’t and still can’t be explained.

A year ago, I was bitter and angry as I watched all the first day of school photos being posted.  I was sorely disappointed that homeschooling was the new season for us.  It wasn’t something I really wanted to do but felt I had too.  This year, as I watched all the beautiful pictures of beautiful littles starting back to school, I was able to pray.  My babies and I spent the day calling out the names of our friends and the things we specifically wanted to ask Jesus to give each one throughout the day. It was beautiful and special and to me speaks volumes about the way God has molded and shaped and changed my heart and the hearts of my children to look more like His.

Rez school’s don’t start until next Thursday and we’ll start homeschool the following Monday. We’re super excited to start each morning with our new gratitude journals.  We’re excited to start reading our monthly, read-aloud novels and begin our 1st and 3rd grade curriculum.

As we drove back onto the Rez on Sunday of this week, I looked up and realized the clouds were cotton candy pink and just as fluffy.  I thought to myself that nowhere else do the clouds look like they do on the Rez.  I looked at the mesas as I drove and thought about how grand and majestic they are and how much they have withstood over the years.  I looked at the red dirt and thought about how many tears that dirt has caught, how many of my own tears its caught.  It was then I thanked God for bringing us here.  Yep, you read it right, I thanked him for bringing us here.

This time last year, I couldn’t fathom how we’d make a life on the Rez.  Now, I can’t imagine our lives if we’d said no.  Our family has been forever changed by the mesas and the dirt, by the Navajo and the beauty of this land.  When we moved here, I saw extreme poverty.  I look now and I see hope.  I see the marvelous way a culture has endured despite severe oppression.  I admire the way my Navajo elders maintain their uniqueness while adapting to a world that is ever changing.

Our family’s purpose has always been to live with the Navajo.  I love the way God continues to reveal that to us daily.  I love that even on the hard days, I know He’s working in the background.  I can appreciate the waiting now because the grandeur of life with Him is way better than any I could’ve imagined.

So-instead of first day of school pictures and bitterness, today, the kids and I drove to Moab so Mesa (the dog) could get his well needed and long over-due hair cut.  We had a picnic and played at the park for hours.  We prayed for our friends who started school today and we admired the amazing way God changes hearts.

What a beautiful change its been…