We’ve all had those moments, those events, those journeys that change and transform us.  Whether it’s big or small, it’s something significant that affects us in a way that once we walk through it, we’re never the same person again.

My dad passing away 20 years ago this Saturday was one of those events for me.  It’s something I never saw coming (at least not as a teenager!), but God literally carried me through that and to this day still uses that for His purposes.  We also had something we walked through earlier this year that I’ll share more about later, but what I’ve learned through anything that rocks me to my core is that God is good.  Always.  Period.  We live in a broken world and horrible things sometimes happen.  But even in the midst of those storms, God is still the One we can continue to hope in because He’s never going to change.

Our friend Joel has been on one of these types of journeys over the past year.  And when things finally culminated in the last couple of weeks, he decided to mark that with something significant, something to show that he was starting again, starting anew.  He’d been growing his hair and beard out so he decided to shave most of his hair off his head and start fresh.

It has been such an honor to watch him walk this path… not because of anything he’s done or said, but because of everything that God has done in him.  His faith has grown.  His trust in God has grown.  His heart has grown.  And Ben and I couldn’t be more thankful for him trusting God in the midst of this journey.  It’s not easy, but the result of his trust was abundant growth that probably anyone who knows him can attest to.

Joel, thank you for letting us be a part of your story.  And thank you for letting us document this new beginning.  It’s going to be amazing!

I can only imagine how much better that feels… especially in the middle of August!!