This past weekend we headed out for a brief adventure outside. As some of you know, I haven't been able to do all of the fall hiking and adventuring that I love to do at this time of year, because I seriously hurt my back a couple of weeks ago. And while I was still in a lot of pain the day was absolutely beautiful and I was so thankful to see that beauty up close.
We headed back to a place that holds special significance for me as some of you who have been around the blog for a longtime will know. Our trip to the Ausabale Marsh Wildlife Management Area in 2013 was... tender. By this point in my health journey I was struggling to walk more than a few feet alone and my precious dad was holding me up. The pictures have some laughter in them, but behind the scenes there was a lot of fear as I had just been diagnosed with Advanced Late Stage Lyme Disease and we knew that something was seriously wrong. I had absolutely no idea the journey that was in front of me to walk but what I do remember that day most of all is that my precious father kept speaking words of life and truth and hope into my situation (which he did for my whole life and throughout the years of being sick in the darkest of moments).
As I held onto my dad tightly struggling to have the effort to walk even a few feet, but dad kept whispering words of encouragement saying things like, "The Lord is going to Heal You", "You are going to run and not faint", "You have good things in front of you"... and so much more.
Seven years later, when healing was in full force, in the Spring of 2020 and when the world was in lockdown, my mom and I headed back to this area to get outside nearly everyday. We would walk the sandy beaches and quietly breathe in the fresh air outside with no one around. It was during these visits that we prayerfully considered what we should do and knew that the Lord was leading to go back to Tennessee. On a very specific walk there my mom said, "You should apply for teaching jobs" which was of course a dream, but I felt an impossible one after so many years of being outside the classroom. I looked at her skeptically and she said, "Go for it"... and sure enough ... my beautiful mom was right and the Lord opened the door to the most incredible opportunity.
Announcing and going back into teaching was one of the most beautiful full circle moments here on Caravan Sonnet and I still have tears at the Lord's goodness. That year... still leaves me speechless.
So whenever we head back to this area... it is always a tender spot filled with lots of precious memories that are deep treasures in my heart. There are of course new things that we are praying about, and new adventures in front and being back in this area was a tender reminder of how the Lord has answered miraculously in the past and will answer again.
I hope that you are having a wonderful Wednesday friends! The beauty that surrounded us was peaceful and I hope that these pictures bring a sense of beauty to your day!
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