Dave, I gave that hand motion a try and I like it. :) I'll have to make it a thing at our house, I think. Thanks, as always, for the affirmation and the honesty. To smile and choke up all in one sitting is perhaps the best way to live.

jenx67, yes, that is my current adventure, indeed. Today I was able to give myself up to it a bit more than I have the past couple of weeks—it's because I wrote this post, I think. Writing it became an important act of remembering and acknowledging. (I wish you lived closer, too. Some day we will meet. I promise!)

Cheryl, it sounds kind of obvious to say it, maybe, but hope in the face of difficulty is such a wonderful thing, and such a wonderful way to experience life. It's much better than just having a so-called perfect life that doesn't require hope. 

 Trina, it's funny, I've heard the door closing version before, and I thought you were presenting a different version—an interesting one, at that! It made me think, even if it wasn't what you meant. :) Anyway, I think you got this exactly right, about "traveling a different ‘path’ and yet journeying to the same ‘end.’" And I'm sorry (but not at all surprised) you feel like others are judging your goodness according to your beliefs. The first step, I think, is for people of faith to realize they're not "all that," just by virtue of what they believe. They have to walk the talk first, and stop focusing on the speck in others' eyes.

TJ, I like what you said about actively looking for those moments when God is looking out for us. I have gradually learned that it's one thing to realize I'm not in control, and to accept that; it's another thing to realize I wouldn't *want* to be in complete control of what happens in my life, even if I could be. So often, what I think I want or need turns out to be a bandaid or frill, rather than anything of substance that brings true change. I do think I have a lot of freedom, and I must make a lot of choices, but to think my life is ultimately in my own hands doesn't line up with the reality I've lived.