The Orchid Journal

YAAAAAAAAYYYYYY!!!!! After five years of living in Tucson and rarely leaving its expansive desert boundaries, I am going on a TRIP!!!! I so wanted to leave this summer as a "Thank God I graduated, let me celebrate" kind of trip, but at first I had Spain or South Korea in mind. Those places, alas, were too grandiose a plan for my half a sememster, substitute teaching salary, so instead, I am going on a road trip to the East Coast with my dear friend Layne and her sister Rachel (whom I have yet to meet, but I am sure is lovely). The trip idea started out last semester because I was writing a paper about my paternal grandparents' home our family calls HOTR (Head of the River). It is a place that we visited every year since I was born and where I lived for 4th and 5th grade. The large Watt family met there for family reunions every summer and it was the one place out of my nomadic childhood/adulthood that we continuously came back to no matter where we lived at the time. ...

In light of my previous post, I wanted to document that these things are the results of "finding out every day" a little of my possible purpose. 1. MUSIC MUSIC MUSIC Ever since I graduated, this is all I can think about and one of the main things that has kept me sane! My friend Layne and I started playing together and visiting more concerts, music festivals etc. I have the opportunity to join in with a quartet (think classical music). We have been practicing every week for the past month or two and play in a wedding today. When praying and asking God how I am supposed to use my creative writing degree skills, I clearly got this answer: "Write songs" And since then I have written about four. I prayed and asked GOd to help me think of melodies for the songs... I have music for one so far... interesting development 2. LIVE in Tucson It struck me last week that this is actually a purpose in my life. Our pastor at The Village always stresses a certain passage in ...

I can't figure out how to add this song to my blog, but the title of this post is from this song. This song has been encouraging to me in many ways at various times in my life over the past two years, but recently, as I flounder about after graduation wondering what the heck I am supposed ot do with my life, this line has helped me take one day at a time and trust that God will make things clear little by little: "What you were made for, no one can say, but you're finding out every day" And it is true...while no one around me is able to look at me and say, "Laelia, this is your purpose...", as I have chosen to look to God daily and trust that He has a purpose for me, every day I have discovered a little piece of the puzzle. Every day I feel a little less directionless and every day I learn something new about God, myself, life in general, that is helping me see a little more clearly. This mindset has helped me feel less frantic too. Before I was almost a...