2014.. Where Did You Go?

I don’t remember another year of my life being as blurry as the one I just walked through. I feel you could fit a lifetime into the walls of this year, a lifetime filled with so much growth that you don’t recognize the beginning or where you started.

As we walk through the years of our lives, we grasp for the meaning of our existence. From the beginning, through the intricately created process of birth, we are brought into this world without choice. This world that is so intriguing and so passionate, sweeps us off our feet and we get rushed into the hustle without thought or warning.

Then we grow and change, become aware of our mortality and aware of the reality of this life. We start to ponder why this is happening, why the years are going on, and what the years mean. 2014 has been a year of nothing less.

In 2014 I fell in love with hiking. When I hike I look around at the humbling quietness that surrounds me. I try to remember to take it all in and to look deeper at the seemingly simple moss and greenery that surrounds me. I try to look so intently that I see the ornate way it is connected and wonder about how it all got there.

If 2014 taught me one thing, its that we are not promised any more time than the time that we are currently in. Now. This moment. This moment that may seem mundane or quiet, we have to believe in this moment. For it is a moment that is making up part of our lives. It is part of our story, and it may be our last moment here.

Know that we are here for a reason and our moments matter. They pass by quickly as we wonder about tomorrow or next year. As we ponder if the grass is greener somewhere else, I feel we are missing the opportunity to stand tall in the place we are now. Take the time to wonder of it’s meaning and grow from its soil.

Being content in every moment, even the moments that bring you to your knees, is terrifying. It forces us to be thankful for sadness, thankful for growth. Those are not easy, but we were not promised it would be easy. This life is hard and long and short and curvy and straight and everything in-between.  It’s all those things at once.

It’s finding beauty in pain and It’s understanding that we cannot do this on our own. God’s timing is better than ours.

Heading into 2015 I am going to do the best I can at staying in the moment. Not worrying about where I am going or who I am going with. I’ve learned that if you can hold your head up, be the best person you can during every adverse experience, you will make it through to the other side. You will be completely changed from the person who started, but you will be standing stronger than you were before. Strong in God’s presence and firm in His peace.