Time to think

I didn't have any work set up for today which is unusual because business has been picking lately. So, instead of moping around the house all day, I decided to spend a few hours hiking at Daley Ranch. I enjoyed myself so much that those few hours quickly grew into four and a half. I've just added up the distance I travelled by using the trail map, and I walked just under 8 miles today. Daley Ranch is this huge parcel of land that the city bought and turned into a park and ecological preserve. The late 1800's ranch house and many of the farm outbuildings are still standing in the valley but can only be observed from a distance. It is amazing to have 30+ miles of trails available to us only 2 miles from our home! (Yea city government!)

I took a route I'd never seen before (which isn't hard to do with so many options), and I was richly rewarded. Springtime is so great here. The temperature was just under 80 and there was a slight breeze. We've had a wet winter, so all the year-round ponds are more like small lakes, and there are a number of ponds, creeks, and small trickle waterfalls that don't appear on any map. They will soon be completely dry.

The ranch is bursting with spring color. The meadows are a lush green and dotted with yellow, orange, and red wildflowers. The hillsides are speckled with the vibrant purple of the Ramona Lilac that has just started blooming.

But probably the greatest thing about my hiking adventure today was the time to think. I stopped and rested under a gnarled old coast live oak and read through the book of Hebrews again to review for my class tonight. It is easy to walk away from that book with a feeling that Jesus knows exactly what I'm going through. I need to trust and have faith. Along the way, I need to love other people and share what I've been blessed with.

I spent some time thinking about what my cousin Candace wrote in her latest blog entry (click here to read it). I have been in the stressful crunch of an immediate and consuming project. But today, I am pretty much on the opposite end of the spectrum. But the call of God in my life is the same whether I am crazy-busy or have a completely free day. I am called to trust and have faith. After reading, I spent some time in prayer, and I ate the cliff bar that I had brought for lunch. I was starving when I got home, by the way! :)

And then I decided to continue on my way. As I travelled through deep rocky canyons and tree-lined shady paths, I came to a meadow on the top of a ridge. God gave me an image to illustrate faith. Here it is:

When I came out through the trees and saw this view, I felt God telling me that even though I can't see where the path will take me, He does. So all the worries about my job, all the sadness about losing out on the opportunity to take the girls into our home, the fears about an uncertain future - all those things are very real, but God knows what is on the other side. My task is to trust Him and have faith in His plan. With God's help, we will follow that path.