Long Walks, Life and Government?

Yesterday Katie and I took a walk for an hour and a half, we talked about so many different things. This was the first time that she had been outside our neighborhood gate since the quarantine started. She was very surprised how many people were out driving around and even people walking or biking.

She said that she imagined empty streets because she thought everyone was at home. (This is a whole other discussion on how our perception is often not reality but that’s for another time.)

Thankfully we(especially the kids) have maintained a very active lifestyle, spending several hours outside everyday with our neighbors but we do live in little bubble with no traffic unless you live on our 1 street.

We made our way down to the cemetery and visited Buddy. 

On my visits I always think about how the grass that was dead on his gravesite is now getting green and how it really is so peaceful there. Of course, like many thoughts, I have never said these thoughts out loud.

But as we are standing there, she said the exact words that I was thinking. How many times do we make ourselves feel isolated in our thoughts because we do not speak them out, even to God. (Another discussion)

I replied to her, “That’s the cycle of life.” What was once dead is now coming alive again. The dead grass breaks down and becomes part of the soil helping to grow the new grass.

I started thinking about all the pain, regret, lost dreams and heartache buried in countless graves but sitting there you get such a calm feeling. The grounds are beautiful, lots of trees with wind chimes and we chose a section by a pond with turtles and fish, that we visit each time.

This paints a very vivid picture of life to me, even though we all have those feelings buried inside, we can look to Jesus and have a peace beyond all understanding. We can flourish and thrive even while being filled with both death in certain areas and also seeds that are growing.

“Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.” Isaiah 43:18-19

This is a constant lesson that God is showing me in so many facets of life, but as I reminded Katie yesterday, the light shines brighter because of the darkness.(This was within a discussion about politics/government, who would have thought.)

The joy is even sweeter because there was once only despair. ❤️