[battened down]

Yes, it's been a while. It's always been a while. More than ever, I can appreciate small moments to take a deep breath in. My days of late are stacked end to end with classes, school work, and (assistant) managing the Hope Center. Typically, I would be wringing that last vapors of intrigue from the cloth of the day with my brilliant bride-to-be. Tonight, I am content to slump down after a challenging week. My love, my thoughts, are floating in the sea breeze toward Dakar. I dream that they strain ahead like a kite, pulling me awkwardly from my chair to rattle the table and dangle above a landscape familiar, yet incomplete.

I am learning the folly in expectations, predictions. We hold on, but find sand falling through our fingers. We leave the oars behind for smooth sailing but suffer cruel tides. It is a heavy world that He's got in His hands, but we are resting in His hands nonetheless. And to weather the storm takes vigilance; steps and breaths taken one at a time, evils expected, blessings savored, fires lit and tended, hatches battened down.