What matters is not the idea a man holds, but the depth at which he holds it.
~Ezra Pound

Believing has been a big concept on my mind today. Sometimes I forget how much belief we must hold in order to walk through this life. We have to believe enough to trust, believe enough to share, believe enough to love, and believe enough to keep on living. Some believe there is a God, some believe there isn't--neither is disbelief. We have to believe in one another in order to call ourselves friends. It is amazing how quickly one can become friends. One day you do not know someone from Adam and the next--you are the best of friends. I do think that there must be a God, if there wasn't, these random people would not come into your life. Some of the most special friends in my life have come into my life randomly--in a strange situation or way--I love it. I was told not too long ago that I was 'very spontaneous.' This is not always a good thing, I'll admit that very quickly. It, however, can also be a blessing at times because I never know who I will meet tomorrow and I'm not afraid to meet new people always--I love that idea.

One must believe in order to keep looking forward in the moments of the unknown. You may not know what you are to do with your life, where you should go, who you should go with--the list of quetions goes on and on--but it is believing that you will eventually find the answer that keeps one walking on that path of the unknown. Belief is like a very trusted friend; when you are wandering aimlessly it takes your hand (and heart) and gently pulls you further along the path, it's fingers pushes your chin up, and it allows you to walk with your head held high even when it is almost impossible to stand.

When I travel, I love looking out the window and looking at the enormous wings of the plane against the clouds and sky. There is something so wondrous about that. It serves as a picture to me of God meeting humankind. God gave us the beauty of the skies and He gave us human beings. Human beings in turn developed technology with the talents and knowledge God granted us--the plane is a result of that. So, when the plane meets the skies it as if humanity meets God in my eyes. Think about those who worked so hard to develop the first plane?? They must have believed in themselves, in their ideas, and in science in order to make such a creation. I am sure it took lots of trial and error and revisions in order to get what we know today as the airplane. We are like those engineers--we must have trial and error in life and be willing to make those revisions in order to get our final product that flies; in other words, we must believe.

Tomorrow I leave for Atchison where I will stay all night and leave for the Amazon on Friday morning. I will return on Tuesday, January 9th and I will let you know when I am back on Kansas soil safe and sound. No worries--I BELIEVE it will be a wonderful adventure and all will be well. My wish for the New Year is that we all may begin to believe a little more in one another, in ourselves, and in God--that would make for a wonderful world!!! :) Happy New Year's (a bit early).

Big Hugs & lots of prayers!

Picture: I took this picture this summer as I was flying to Texas for a VERY close family friend's 75th wedding Anniversary--I had SO much to believe in on that trip.