Get Out There

If you stay indoors, you never know what you may miss.

One of my closest friends called me last week. It’s always kind of curious to me that when I have someone on my mind, I usually hear from them. I had been thinking about her and had planned to call her to plan to get together for coffee. We do that from time to time to catch up.

This time, when I suggested coffee, she suggested we meet and take a walk together, catch up while we exercise, two birds with one stone, so to speak. Being a multitasker myself, I agreed. But, when I got out of bed yesterday, it was 51 degrees. That’s pretty cold for a Georgia Peach. I grumbled to my family about how much easier having coffee was than walking.

I arrived at the park a few minutes before she did still thinking that it was awfully chilly. When she drove up, she jumped out of her car like a breath of spring time and gave me a hug. When I commented on how cool it was, she remarked about how beautiful the day was. The sky was a gorgeous blue without a cloud in sight. She reminded me that it had stopped raining.

It has rained for like the past two weeks here. Everyone is sick of it. We’ve all been praying for sun and here it was. But, I had been willing to miss it because it was too cold.

Isn’t it funny how God sometimes speaks to us through our friends? I don’t know why it surprises me because I’ve always considered friendship one of His greatest gifts. Sometimes the gentle words from a friend are clearly reminders from God.

Her reminder was that we should bask and appreciate the sunshine at every opportunity. Who knows when it will rain again? If we wait for the “perfect” conditions to get out there, we may miss the beautiful day completely.

We had a delightful walk and visit as we always do. When you have known someone for thirty plus years, you really don’t run out of things to talk about. You can sometimes even finish each other’s sentences.

Long after our walk, I thought about missed opportunities in life. How often do we miss out on something because we are waiting for the “perfect” time. We may be waiting for the kids to get older, or for our jobs to get easier, or for the economy to get better or for better weather. There are definitely times when we should wait.

But, there are also times, when we are simply making excuses. Sometimes, we need to grab a jacket, brave the cool weather and just get out there. Sometimes we are incredibly surprised by the beauty that awaits us.

We will never know, if we don’t leave our comfort zone. I’m glad I listened to my friend. A little adventure can be good for the soul. What do you need to do to get out there?

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂