After I graduated High School, I decided to move to West Virginia. I had a friend that lived there who was a senior in High school. Our families have known one another since before we were both born. Our friendship was always off and on during the 18 years of our lives. It is hard to stay connected through many years and many moves.
My first couple weeks in West Virginia were very difficult. It was my first time moving away from my family and my friend didn’t want to hang out much. I felt so alone. Like David in the Psalms ” Psa 25:16 “Turn to me and be gracious to me, for I am lonely….” During the day, I would go down to the dock along the Ohio River and sit and think about things. I would go down there a couple times a week just to free my thoughts. Some days, I would cry out and wonder what my purpose was for me to be in West Virginia. Every day I would hear the same thing… Silence. My heart was not ready to hear or see what God wanted to show me.
A few months after I had settled in and was getting comfortable in my life again, God took me back to the dock to show me what I had longed for the entire time I was there. I sat at the dock for an hour before anything happened. Then all at once, I saw it. I had been coming to the dock for months and I never noticed it before, but that day, I saw it. The tree that I sat near, was just blossoming and every angle that I looked, I saw a distinct cross. I stared at this tree for the next several minutes and thoughts kept going through my head about new life from a life given. The tree was blooming and yet Jesus died upon a tree for us so that we could bloom and give us a renewal.
The moments I had at the dock were life changing. I felt alone, but God was there. He showed me renewal. The scripture that kept running through my head through all of this was Psalms 51:10 “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me” and Hebrew 13:5 “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”
He is my Comforter, Deliverer and my safe Refuge and with that I am ALIVE and NEW!
