Month: December 2020

Blazing a New Trail

Posted on by Wendy
It’s never too late to blaze a new trail!

On a recent walk on my parents’ property, we took our pups and let them roam off leash. It was so much fun watching the pure joy in their wagging tails. They would catch a scent of something and run off a little ways and we would call to them and they would return for a few minutes and then dash off again, following their noses.

I commented to my hubby about how they were always running. I marveled how they didn’t run into trees. He pointed out that they were following deer trails. He said that deer don’t just wander around aimlessly. They have trails that they have made and they tend to stay on them.

I grew up in the country and I don’t know why I didn’t know that little fact, but I was intrigued by the thought that even animals, tend to stick to paths that have already been laid out for them and deer aren’t trail blazers.

As we wind down 2020, we can all agree that this year has been unusual at best. Most of us have found ourselves off of the path we planned in some shape or form. While this off-roading of sorts, has caused many emotions ranging from disappointment, to fear, to anger, to despair; it has also resulted in the blazing of new trails for many.

People have spent a lot of time at home. Relationships have been prioritized. Families began sitting down together for dinner together since all of those sports and extracurricular activities were cancelled. Brides and grooms elected to go ahead and get married without a big, splashy wedding because starting life together was what was important. People moved in droves; many sought quieter, more rural lifestyles. Many lost loved ones.

Calamity has a way of making us refocus on what’s really important. It makes us take stock and take a hard look at where we are and what path we are on. When the busyness gets taken away, we are forced to ask ourselves are we on the path we really want to be on? How did we get here? Are we here simply because it’s what everyone else is doing? Might now be the time to seek the, “Road Less Travelled?”

While we are all anxious for this pandemic to go away, what has it taught us? Do we really want to go back to life exactly as it was? Are there changes that have been made for the good? Should more be made?

The Bible tells us, “And we know in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28

A deer trail in the woods, reminded me to end this tumultuous year with some time in prayer. If God is in the lead, it’s never too late to blaze a new trail. Perhaps you needed reminding too!

Have an awesome day!
Wendy 🙂

PS I won’t be posting for the next few weeks, because I will be spending time with family. I pray that you have a Merry Christmas and I hope to meet you back here in 2021.

Barbed Wire Lessons

Posted on by Wendy
So much of what we spend our time on won’t last when we are gone.

On a recent visit to my parents’ house, we were treated to some mild winter weather. We had a cold snap the week before, followed by rain, so when the sun came out on Saturday and the temperature hit sixty degrees, we grabbed the pups and headed out for a long walk. We started out on familiar trails left by loggers from the past and then cut back by my daddy and brother, but eventually we found ourselves exploring territory that hasn’t been cut back in a while.

We ended up in a beautiful, flat area, with tall, majestic oak trees. There were no logging trails or trails from my parents’ ATV. It seemed completely untouched by humanity, but as we walked a little further, my hubby called back to tell us to watch out for the barbed wire. Sure enough, there were two strands of very old barbed wire that two oak trees had grown around.

I was fascinated. The trees were completely unaffected by the wire and I wondered how old they were. My parents nor grandparents, ever had livestock in that area, so it’s been untouched for at least sixty years, if not longer. But, clearly at some point, someone had used that flat area to keep some type of livestock. Someone had used their hands and had likely spent hours in sweat equity building a fence and maintaining some sort of pasture for grazing.

I wondered what animals lived there and how long the former owners farmed there. Was farming their livelihood? Did they constantly worry about their fence and what tomorrow would bring with the weather or what predators lurked nearby? Was it worth it to them? In the end, were they at peace with their life choices and how they spent their time? What happened to them and their farm?

Because, somewhere between 60 and 100 years later, it was almost as if that fence was never even there. Nature reclaimed what was hers and erased someone’s hard work.

That barbed wire remnant really got me to thinking about what we focus on during our short time here and what really matters. We tend to find ourselves focusing on things like our jobs and financial issues or these days, politics and a pandemic. While these things may be serious matters at the moment, these are not eternal matters.

According to the CDC, the average lifespan for Americans is 78.7 years. How much of our time is spent worrying about or working on things that won’t matter in ten or twenty years, much less 100?

We live in a physical world, so we have to spend some of our time working on physical things, but perhaps the answer is to focus more of our time on matters that will last long after we are gone like faith, hope and love. We can share those with people in our lives and send waves that can spread across generations.

Some old barbed wire reminded me to be intentional about how I spend my time. Perhaps you needed reminding too.

Have an awesome day!
Wendy 🙂

The Gift of Perspective

Posted on by Wendy
Sometimes messy, is just evidence of a life truly lived.

Last week, I hosted Thanksgiving dinner for my family, just like I usually do. It was a small, informal affair. My parents came. Mama came a day early and made her sweet potato and macaroni and cheese casseroles like she usually does. Daddy drove up on Thanksgiving Day with my brother, like he usually does. My hubby smoked a turkey. I made the dressing and dessert.

My son sat next to my brother. My daughter set next to my mother. We bowed our heads and gave thanks and shared a feast together.

It was all extraordinarily ordinary, except this year, it felt so special. In a world turned upside down by a virus we can’t even see, the beautiful familiarity of it all, felt like a gift from above. We lingered at the table long after we were finished eating, each of us sharing old and new stories along with lots of laughter.

When we finally did move into the kitchen for cleanup and I saw the pile of dishes, I had to smile and take a picture. I don’t know if I have ever considered dirty dishes a blessing, but this year was different. This year, each of those plates and glasses represented someone who I deeply love, who was able to share a Thanksgiving meal. They also represented the provision of food to put on those plates. This year the post meal scrubbing of casserole dishes and handwashing of the “good” glasses made me pause and give thanks.

A little bit later, when we went outside to take the annual family picture, the light seemed a little brighter than usual. The leaves seemed a little more vibrant and no one complained about smiling for forty pictures, because that’s how many it took for seven people and two pups, both sharing their first Thanksgiving, to look at the camera.

It was a very busy few days, involving lots of cleaning and cooking. The two young pups had a ball, chasing each other, leaving muddy footprints all over the porch, that I also found myself saying a prayer of thanks for as I wiped them up. Those dogs have brought much light and joy into our homes this year and those muddy footprints were simply part of the package.

2020 will be remembered for a lot of things and I suspect that most of them will not be good. There has been so much death, loss, unrest, despair and division. But, perhaps it will also be remembered as the year that put things in perspective for many of us.

Everyday we wake up, is a gift. For most of us, this Christmas season will look different than in years past, but as we ease into the season of Advent and prepare to celebrate the birth of Christ, may we remember to focus on the many blessings that we so often overlook. When we do that, we may find a new sense of peace that we haven’t had before, one that passes all understanding.

A pile of dirty dishes and some muddy pawprints reminded me how many blessings we often overlook. Perhaps you needed reminding too.

Have an awesome day!
Wendy 🙂