Random Thoughts

New things learned this week (I know it's Wednesday but it seems like the weekend since we've been gone for the last 48 hours):
1.  Lilyana can spell her name (verbally not written).
2.  Lilyana knows to add one S to get 2 of something (we'll work on more than 2 later).
3.  Lilyana learned a new body part:  ankle.

On the way home from Zumbrota she saw a Z in the clouds.  And while we were passing through a roundabout in New Prague, she noticed that the "mighty machine" was gone.  Several weeks ago on another pass through New Prague we saw a machine planting trees in this roundabout.  She has quite the memory.

And other non-Lilyana related thoughts:  Chuck Swindoll has had a few posts this last week about the journey and wilderness on the way to the Promised Land (scroll through the archives to see other posts).  And then today my friend, Claudia, asks "What is my wheelchair? What are the things that I view as difficult in my life? Am I running away from the purpose God has for me in them? Or am I willing to accept them and grow closer to God because of them? Will I allow them to produce fruit in me? Am I really willing to participate in His suffering, as Paul wrote, in order to experience the power of his resurrection?" 

So maybe I should find joy in the journey, through the trials, aches and pains, and the hard road of relationships, instead of plodding along only thinking about the joy at the end.