STOP

This week my parents are gone in Vegas due to a seminar my dad has to attend, so my work is pretty limited. This gives me the chance to kind of fool around during the work week, somewhat, or at least make my own hours completely. So today I decided to take a walk at Spring Lake, one of my favorite places in Sonoma County. I was anxious to see what the rains had done to my lovely lake, and to see if it was even walkable.

Just last night I was praying to God about my diet. I prayed for willpower to lose weight, as I kind of fell off the wagon this weekend, so to speak, after doing so well throughout the week before. And today, I felt like God was asking me to take a different route around the lake when I usually take another. So I did, wondering if there was a reason for this. There was. When I was almost commpletely around the lake, the trail was closed due to flooding, and I was forced to turn around and walk the whole lake back again. Seems either God has a sense of humor, or he's taking me on in this whole weight loss journey.



So being slightly out of shape, I felt a little negative about the whole thing. But only briefly. I quickly decided to make the best of it. There's this pier on the other side of the lake that I love to go to the end of and just pause to feel God for a moment in this busy life. And it makes my whole day to do so. During nice weather it's occupied with fishermen or boaters, so I bypass it. And this day I bypassed it again because I just wanted to get this walk over with. But on the way back, I decided that God was calling me to just stop and spend a moment with him. The pier was full of geese that I gently shooed away. I dared not sit on the pier as it was covered in geese droppings. But I stood all the way to the very edge of the pier, and stood in silence as the muddy waters drifted around me. And I could feel His breath in me as I inhaled His air. And I let Him fill me. And I finished my walk, survived the few extra steps, and felt a new calm surround me.



Sometimes all we need is a reason to stop. Just stop. This world is so busy, so much in a rush. And even when there's no reason for hurrying, we find ourselves unable to just STOP. Every time I take my walk with God, I have to wonder what holds me back from doing this more often? Because today, my day is made.

*Pictures taken at Spring Lake last Spring. Just imagine a lot more mud and browner water....