Fall is in full swing with trees leaves shedding fabulous shades of red, pink and orange. Yet my mind still wonders back to the beauty and majesty I saw this summer. My family, including my in-laws, flew to Calgary and jumped in a motor-home. For two weeks, we drove around Alberta and British Columbia. Some days, and there were many, you could have written a TV family sitcom that would have compared to “Everybody Loves Raymond” or “Married with Children” using our raw material. However, amidst the chaos that a family vacation may pose at times, I found myself speechless in the presence of Creation’s beauty.
Mountains towered over roads and we felt like little ants driving a Lego car. They were so high and rough looking. The red clay exposed their tectonic plates. Some so high that they were still covered in snow. The colors of the glacier waters in the rivers and lakes made the emerald gems pale in beauty.
The Rocky Mountains are all the hype in tourism. They are magnificent. The canyons, the wildlife, the lakes, the vastness. It’s all breathtaking. In British Columbia, endless valleys, the Fraser Canyon, the lush mountain sides, and farmland make honor to their slogan: “Beautiful British Columbia.”
And there is the Vancouver Island, with trees older than life itself. This little piece of land holds one of the rarest tempered rainforest in the world, the wild pacific trail with its charcoal coastline, and trendy towns like Tofino.
There were times my eyes strained to take it all in. The majestic views from atop Banff tore me between shouting Praises to My Creator for such beauty, and standing in silence, jaw-dropping, as a way of showing reverence.
Among all the views, those of water were my favorite. From Jasper to the Okanagan Lake, to the Pacific Ocean. Water moved, sometimes slowly, sometimes fast, and others in crashing waves. Water just flows. It is in some ways like life. At times fast, at times feel like a crash and other times lingers…almost still.
I am now thinking of this image when feeling anxious or want to control what I cannot. I pray God keeps showing me the pace of the river, when to linger, when to go fast and went to crash. There is beauty in every season. I am trying to go at Creator’s speed and not my own.
This has been a year where confusion and anxiety about the future has assaulted me many times. This past September I sent my youngest child to school and my identity got shaken. Two of the four courses I enrolled in were cancelled. It looked like my plans were imperfect…and they are. But when I sit still and remember all I saw this summer and the MANY ways I felt God, I repeat to myself: “You are a loved child of God Mariela. He has a purpose for your life. His plan is perfect and will be carried out in His perfect time.”
Living with such Hope is a choice that requires to go against culture and trends. One worth making.
Do love and shoes!
“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” Romans:28 (NIV)