Conversations

Do you ever look back through the years and remember special conversations? I do. I have learned so much by sitting still and listening to people’s stories. It’s interesting what will come out in the course of a simple conversation that often starts off with one subject and meanders to another.

I’ve learned patience from a 93-year-old who lost her husband from WWI-related nerve gas that eventually took his life.  I’ve gained a better understanding of true love by listening to the struggles of a woman recently diagnosed with cancer. And I’ve understood  how important it is to accept someone else’s opinion even if  it differs from mine.

Conversations are like bridges. They take us across muddy waters, deep gulleys, and canyons we may never view again. When’s the last time you  had a really meaningful conversation?

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The Beauty of Change

I love to discover new trails, especially when they lead through woods.  The day after Thanksgiving, I stopped at a local park along the river, just to check out the colors. A deep bed of leaves provided a crunch under each step. I was underwhelmed with the lack of light–the sky was overcast and I could smell rain in the distance–so I focused on the treetops, with their last clinging leaves and slight touch of color.  A breeze was picking up and I knew change was coming.  I would have to hurry.

As is usually the case, I tromped around with my Canon DSLR and a headful of thoughts. It’s impossible to capture the beauty of nature without thinking of the one who created it all. This day, my thoughts turned to how change is inevitable. It’s part of life.

Seasons pass. Flowers eventually wither. Loved ones die while somewhere else, a newborn is making his way into the world with a squeal. Arriving is synchronized with leaving, like a finely tuned clock.

I can’t say I love change, but I’m learning to see beauty in it. There’s an irony in it all–finding stability in change.

For me, stability comes by anchoring myself to what I know for sure: God never changes. His love is unwavering, and his grace bottomless. Nothing can contain it. Seasons shift, but he is unshifting. He meets me at every crossroad in every circumstance.

These treetops are now bare, their branches stretched out in the long wait for new Spring leaf-buds.  Sure am glad I stopped long enough to follow that trail.

Towering trees along the Willamette River

Reminders

This time, like all times, is a very good one, if we but know what to do with it. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

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