It’s a wonderful life. I love living on Whidbey Island.
That’s not to disparage Colby, Kansas; or Independence, Missouri; or Lorain, Ohio; or Freiburg, Germany; or Grinnell, Iowa; or Douglas or Grandville or Grand Rapids or Charlotte, Michigan. Every place I have lived there have been truly wonderful people.
But here on the island is where God has given me the opportunity to live my dreams.
Ah, sometimes the dream life has its hard doses of reality, like watching Mom’s mind ebb away: hearing the same story for what seems like the hundred millionth time or repeating the answer to a question asked and answered ten times in ten minutes. But, of course, my dream life is my real life, so valleys and rough spots are part of the terrain.
So are the mountain tops: worshipping with my church family at Whidbey Presbyterian, singing in the choir, playing my flutes, leading a life group, assisting with worship. There is the daily discipline that brings so much joy: practicing my flutes, writing at my computer, reading and praying at bedtime. There are lunches with Helen, walks with Bethany, plays and concerts with Debra. There are flute lessons, flute choir, Tradewinds, practices with Sandy. There is the beauty all around: the tall evergreen woods of home, the winding drive to church with the distant Olympics to the west and the Cascades to the east. There are beaches and coffee shops and concerts and plays and artwork and thrift stores galore.
And most of all, there is time. Time to pursue writing and music. Time to travel back eastward to see my family. Time to go on beach walks. Time for those midday naps that keep me going. Time to prepare nutritious meals. Time to appreciate the moment and live fully in it.
What a wonderful life!
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