Connecting the dots
I remember vividly doing the “Connect the Dots” drawings in my childhood years. I would take time to imagine what the image was before I started. Sometimes it was easy to imagine what the image was. At other times, there was a sense of mystery as I drew the lines between the dots.
God has led me on a path that has connected the dots of my journey, creating an image of the person God desires me to be. The image of what the Creator is growing me into. Sometimes the path goes through a cluster of trees or a desert. At other times it leads to sunshine and beaches or picturesque mountains.
I have learned through my life experiences that there are times that I connect to the wrong dot. Then I must erase the line and try again. Yet God is always patient with me. There are times when the image that is being created amazes me.
In recent years, since my wife Carolyn went home to be with God, I have experienced times and situations where God has guided me clearly to the next step – the next dot. Carolyn and I had a wonderful life together filled with many “mountain top” experiences. One such experience was bringing the Men’s and Women’s Cornerstone experience to Immaculate Conception Church in Annandale, New Jersey. Out of that experience grew many vibrant ministries and many dedicated parishioners.
The landscape of my life and journey became filled with dots – people who strengthened me and became a life-giving support. Carolyn and I were both spiritual directors. Some of her directees requested me to journey with them after she passed. When I had to sell my home, I was offered a place to live by several parishioners.
In that first year of grieving after Carolyn passed, I had attended a bereavement workshop that gave me insight into the process of grieving. A year later, I had the opportunity to accompany a friend as she grieved the loss of her husband, and I attended that year’s bereavement workshop to support her. She too had to sell her home, and, in the process, she experienced a deep depression. Through God’s grace I was open to being a spiritual guide and a friend to her. During the next few years, we discovered how much we had in common. We journeyed to a different phase of our relationship and began to date and enjoy each other’s company. This was not something that I had planned on happening because part of me was still stuck in my own grieving.
We both see the ways that God’s Spirit is transforming our lives. And yes, we are falling in love!
How is God guiding you through the dots in your journey?