everywhere i go

Lissie – Everywhere I Go

It has been a week since Cole and I returned from Switzerland.  And while I’ve wanted to share about our experience there, the combination of not knowing where to start and entering into a busy stretch for the next few weeks has kept me from piecing together some spare minutes to do so.  To be sure, there is no lack of material to draw from.  The challenge is knowing what to share that would be of interest.

So, while I’m figuring that out, I’ll share a thought and some pictures (everyone loves pictures).

My time there was bathed in the recognition that simply being there was a gift.   And not just in some poetic sense of the word, but being in a foreign country with my eldest son is something I simply shouldn’t have been able to do.  In any normal reckoning of things, a colossal mistake on my part would have kept us from stepping foot on an airplane.

And yet, a tidal wave of grace came crashing down on top of us, as at least five make-or-break moments came together.  Any one of which might have been written off as coincidence or luck, but the cumulative nature of those “make” moments leaves little doubt as to whose hands they (and we) were in.

So for both of us, from the moment Cole stepped off his plane from Little Rock, until we touched down in the same, gratefulness permeated every minute of the trip.  Even when snow kept us from doing all that I had planned, it barely even registered that I might be “missing” anything.

We were…

grateful to be there.


Grateful for Cole.


Grateful for friends.

Grateful for warm homes.

Grateful for our health.

Grateful for the Word.

Grateful for food.

Grateful for hiking signs.

Grateful for cows.

Grateful for splendor.

Grateful for trains.

And yes, grateful for snow.