Milestones: Are we there yet?

As we drive along the road we see numbers marking the miles to the next location. We can use these to see how fast we are going and estimate how long until we reach our destination. Of course there could be some delays or even detours. These are usually metal signs but a long time ago they we carved in stone, hense the term milestones. Now some say "milemarkers."

We also speak of milestones in our lives. Points of time, events where we mark something special. Some milestones were passed without a lot of fanfare. Others may have been wonderfully special or horribly traumatic. These could be cause for celebration or make us change the way we look at life. This change could be called a paradigm shift. We may change how we do things or how we think. We may leave old ways behind as we look to the future. My focus is on some personal ones.

David and I moved to Hungary August 1, 2024. We sold much of our possessions and our home. Then we purchased a new home and set up a business. Some great business professionals helped us set up appointments, our utilities and other services we would need. This was done so well that we can now manage most of these things ourselves with or with the help of a translator. Our go-to support in this journey continues to be 1st Line Consulting kft and owner Andrea, who helps people relocate.

There were other changes too. I stopped driving due to problems with distance vision. I still travel but others are doing the chauffeuring. It's been 2 years now and I am happy to say that really don't miss it. In these past 2 years David had a big health scare with diabetes in 2025. That was an unexpected detour in our journey. He is much better now and we look forward to taking some trips. We did take a trip in May to celebrate our anniversary. We took the train to Budapest. The trains are very inexpensive for seniors. We met a client for dinner on this excursion. Up till then we had only met on Zoom. It was exciting to meet her in person. Best of all this person shares our belief in Jesus. She and other friends we have made through our business, which focuses on tutoring English as a Second Language (ESL), is a great blessing for us. But it's not just conversation. Sometimes David cooks and shares recipes. These people are no longer clients who want to improve their English. They have become close to us and we love having them in our lives. We hope we are impacting them in some postive way as we continue our journey.

For us the journey is both physical and spiritual. Some folks don't think about the spiritual aspect so much, but I have for many years. I consider it especially at times of big decisions like a move or illness. God did not bring us where we are by accident and we can look at the milemarkers of the past as a teaching tool and toward the future markers with optimism.

I hear echoes from childhood travels: "Are we there yet!?"

I plan to share the spiritual aspect in another blog.