October 19, 2026

I didn't know why; I just knew I needed to pay attention…

A while back, my daughter needed to log hours behind the wheel. Somewhere along the way, I felt a nudge to turn those hours into something more: a country church tour.

I've always had a soft spot for little country churches. For part of my growing-up years, my family attended one, and I suppose something about those little churches still feels like home.

For the next several months, we began many Sundays with a drive to a different country church. We weren't just passing by; we attended Sunday services, worshiped alongside the people who called those churches home, and experienced a little piece of their communities.

I didn't really know why I felt so drawn to it; I just knew I wanted to pay attention, so we kept going.

We found little country churches tucked along gravel roads. We explored towns we probably wouldn't have visited otherwise, and we stopped at small coffee shops and cafés where people seemed less interested in impressing us and more interested in simply getting to know us.

But somewhere along those roads, I realized the churches weren't the only thing we were finding; we were finding time.

Time for conversations that don't always happen when you're sitting across from one another; time for my daughter to talk about life, friendships, school, boys, and whatever else was on her heart, and for me to listen. Sometimes, it was also time for her to tell me something I needed to hear.

What began as logging driving hours became something I couldn't have planned nearly as well myself, and maybe that's part of what I've been learning: Not every nudge arrives with an explanation.

Sometimes we want to know why before we're willing to move. We want the plan, the outcome, and some assurance that what we're sensing makes sense.

But what I have found in many situations in life, including this one, is that some things only become clear after we act.

- The conversation happens because we made the call.

- The relationship deepens because we made the time.

- The opportunity appears because we took the first step.

The gravel road takes us somewhere we didn't know we needed to go.

I still don't fully understand why those country churches kept tugging at my heart, but I'm grateful I didn't wait until I did. Because along the way, God gave us something I wasn't looking for.

Time together, conversations that mattered, and a whole lot of peace.

Maybe there's something tugging at you, too. Not loudly, not urgently, but just enough that you keep noticing it.

You may not need to figure it all out before you move; maybe you simply need to honor the nudge.

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Carry It With You

What is this week's Happy Monday inviting me to notice?

What small nudge have I been noticing that might be worth acting on?

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Until next Monday, keep becoming!