January of 08 I was coming home from Atlanta and was singing the song Moving Forward, by the Praise and Worship Team from Free Chapel in Gainesville, Georgia.

That was the day the Lord beautifully removed from me the heavy grief that I had been under since my divorce the previous summer.

Now, three years later, about to embark on a new journey with a wonderful man and his five beautiful children I found myself singing that song again. Divorce is a painful journey. And it doesn’t always have neat and tidy ends. Sometimes it is frayed and unkept. As the final pieces of an old life are being finished with the sale of my home after three years of being on the market and the final severing of a life I once knew I found myself having moments of grief. But driving to church yesterday morning I began to sing the song that had healed my soul so beautifully two years earlier. And I am…I’m moving forward.

I prayed diligently that God would just bring one man into my life. I told him I didn’t need free dinners or unnecessary drama. I just needed his man. He assured me he would. And this past summer He got him to me. He came with five children, not part of my picture at all, but thankfully I threw that picture away a year earlier. And in throwing it away I didn’t miss the man God had for me. And on April 10th we will begin a new life together.

It is funny…as a writer people often ask me what my favorite book is. And I always tell them, “they are like children, so you can’t choose.” I have finished one book of my life. The forty year book. Many of those years felt a lot like wandering in the wilderness if I’m being honest. And I am moving forward into the “promised land” book. When you finish a book you always wonder if you will ever have anything else to write. I’m so grateful to say God has already given me a glimpse of this new story that He is writing…

I don’t believe in fairytales. I’ve lived too long and been through too much to have an unrealistic view of where I’m headed. What I do have is confidence in a sweet Father who has given me a second chance at living…

There might be a story that God is calling to a close in your life. Let it go…all stories must eventually end. And trust, that He is about to write one that is going to amaze you…but you can move forward if you’re still holding onto the past.

I have a picture of my future…and it is full…and alive…and beautiful. I believe yours is too…