We've been in California seven and a half years now.  I just re-read some of the blog posts I wrote when we were newly transplanted and it brought into sharp focus some of the changes that have occurred - internally as well as externally - in our lives in these last years.  

There hasn't been a time during the years here that I haven't felt the desire to be "back home" on the farm.  From the beginning, however, we made the choice to embrace the life God has given us here.  And from today's perspective, I cannot imagine my life without the experiences and relationships that have HUGELY blessed and enriched my life out here.  God has deconstructed and reconstructed so many aspects of my life, accomplished so much healing, and given so many opportunities for growth.  Just like the California sunshine causes things to flourish, these years have been a flourishing season for us, not because of the climate and location but because of God's work.  The relationships He's given us have made us immeasurably richer and for that we are immeasurably thankful.  These have been golden years in the Golden State. 

We aren't leaving California and our life here yet.  But somehow knowing there is a definite end in sight gives a different perspective on life.  I think it's what Moses was talking about in asking God to teach us to number our days.  For many years I've had that verse framed above my desk:  "So teach me hourly to contemplate the fleeting character and brevity of my lifetime, that I may present to you a heart of wisdom."  I think that must be Keil and Delitzsch's translation of Psalm 90:12 because it's not any recognizable version.  Life is fleeting and brief and during that short interval we must somehow cultivate a heart of wisdom.  We can only do that if we gain an eternal perspective during this short earthly sojourn.

The other day I mentioned to Pete that when I look back over my life I have so few regrets but the one regret I do have is that I didn't trust God more.  He immediately agreed with me and said, "Amen and amen!"  For the life of me, I can't understand why that has been a struggle.  But perhaps that's sort of like a healed blind person trying to remember what it was like to be blind.