After spending most of Easter Sunday in bed with a cold, I decided Monday needed a dose of nature's healing - and I discovered with joy that the woods had been adorned with Bluebells!
Bluebell Suprise!
I headed out on my lockdown route; the one only minutes from my door, which despite living here for 5 years, took a pandemic for me to discover.
I love spring, for me, the combination of colours, breath through, sunshine, and just enough breeze, makes it perfect to be outside. Like the Goldilocks of seasons, it is not too hot, not too cold but just right!
Today I woke with the sun, although I lazed for a while. I ate a leftover hot cross bun for breakfast, and maybe even added a smidgen of a broken easter egg to the filing. The decision to walk cut through my desire to laze and sleep through this cold. It was a good choice.
Spring is a place where I find hope
(who am I kidding, I find hope in all seasons; the restfulness of summer, the trust of autumn, the perseverance and strength of winter. Hope is everywhere, if you choose to see it.)
Today, however, it was the hope I needed, the place where space was found, my soul silenced, and my joy as I walked into the woods palpable.
It reminded me of a time before lockdown. I had been walking through thick woods up a mountain in Austria. Then suddenly the woods opened and the sight literally stopped me in my tracks. I was incredible, mind-blowing - awesome in the right sense of the word. And I cried, then laughed and then praised!
I didn't have quite the same intense reaction today, instead, I felt joy rise up in me, a smile spread across my face, and my soul filled with peace. I wasn't expecting the bluebells, but here they were, lining the floor of the wood, dancing in the wind to the birdsong around them - and not a soul to be seen. Joy!
As I continued, I felt led to take the higher path, pausing for a moment under the American Redwood, towing high above the others, to take in the view. From up here, I found my trust again, and my hope grew. And so I headed with this hope coupled with joy and wrapped in peace and entered the field with the tree. I haven't been here in so long and the terrain had changed. It is now a harvested field. I was unsure whether to walk directly across or find a path around, but noticing others' footprints, I took my chances across the mud. I knew I had to stand under the tree, I knew I had to take in the view of this wide-open space.
Unexpected
For those of you who know me, you know this has not been the most relaxed time of my life. Sometimes I have lost sight of hope, or rather, I have transferred my gaze to false hope. Yet like the seasons, hope has always been there, I've just had to look in the right places. Today you led me to choose to walk, discover a carpet of bluebells, adventure into a wide-open space, pause to worship, and there you spoke hope into my heart. Thank you
Where do you find hope? Have you been there recently? I encourage you, make time for the things which light up your hope
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