Just wanted to say that we have the most amazing son. He is only 9 months old and yet for reasons he does not understand, we place him facing away from us and venture out on a 7 hour car drive. As we travel to places he has never seen and for a longer time he is accustomed to, he remains happy, content. Passing time with the simple noises he learns to make or the chewing of his own sock (still on his foot, might I add), gaining comfort in times of silence by the voices coming from the front seat that he can only hear. He may not see us, but knows we are there, and that we are speaking to him.
Traveling with him, as great as he was, is still a slower process that requires patience as we stop to feed him, change him, or stretch his legs. This was a great lesson in patience and the joy we receive from slowing down our lives enough to see the happiness and simplicity that Ian gives in his joyful acceptance of the unknown.
God has blessed us in ways I cannot put into words. We have, through Ian, a teacher that delivers each lesson with impeccable timing and in a language anyone could understand.
As I go with my Father on that unknown journey, with my back to all that is familiar. I hope to recall Ian's example, and find comfort in the simple things. I long to be content with chewing on my socks. I long for the day that I can be comforted as I utter the only sounds I can, knowing that one day that meaningless noises that only I can understand, will allow me to communicate with my Father on a different level. What Ian taught me last week was that when my Father speaks to me, I must focus on those words alone, and shout back in joy that He was talking to me.....He is still there, waiting for the day I speak back the things He has spoken to me over and over again so that I may know more deeply what is said to me.
This is just joyful babble though, I will never be able to put into words what lies deep within God's most gracious gift to me, in the past 2 thousand years or so. My only desire is that I give all I am and all I have back to Him.