Growing up, my family moved a lot. I really didn’t think too much of this until I moved to Iowa my senior year of High school. That made things really difficult. My parents told me that I could stay with family there and finish up high school at the same school I had been at for the past 3 years. I didn’t want to do that because I would be away from my family and I wasn’t ready for that yet.
I only needed Government class to graduate but I registered for a couple more classes so that I could meet people. (Plus, I had to take gym because in Iowa you have to take it all 4 years. In Ohio, you only have to take gym for 2 semesters. So, I was not excited about that.)
That year was rough. I can’t tell you one person I graduated with and I felt as though the people I did get to know in Iowa from church and whatnot, found better friends. I felt alone. I researched colleges and decided that now was a good time for me to move away from my family. In 2002, I moved to West Virginia to live with a family that my family had known since before I was born. We moved and lost track of them for a while. I was able to catch up with the daughter about a year before moving to West Virginia. We became relatively close and I felt like someone could understand me. I suppose it was easy to open up when the majority of our conversations were via telephone or internet. All of that changed when I actually moved to West Virginia.
When I moved to WV, I barged into someone else’s life. I thought that things would be easy and I would transition very well. I found out VERY quickly that the world didn’t revolve around me. In fact, I wanted to go home but I had no idea where that was anymore.
I broke down and gave it all to God. I found a spot along the Ohio River that ran through town and waited for God to speak to me. Nothing… Was I not crying hard enough? Was he not hearing me? I sat there longer, straining to hear anything and still nothing. All of a sudden the wind picked up and I watched this tree and its branches swaying. Watching this tree gave me peace. It was weird. I got a notebook out of my car and started to write.
This is what I wrote…
Beauty
The beauty of the glistening streams opens my eyes to this earth’s reality
I see the rare swan float past in a gaggle of geese
He shows me that I am cleansed by your blood and a light for others to see
The glittering waters remind me of your golden streets that await my presence
How can your love be so true?
Your life laid down for me on a tree like the one before me
The branches being your stripes
Budding from those stripes are new creations
Creations blossoming and growing more every day
In the midst of me trying to get the world to revolve around my own life, God WAS speaking to me. He was telling me to chill out and take Him in. I need to learn to hear that more often. I think we all do. It is hard in the midst of the busyness of life, we don’t take the time and listen.
The time to listen is NOW. RIGHT NOW! Don’t put it off. God wants to speak to you today. He wants you to chill out and bask in His love.
