Creation Comfort

One of the beautiful things about living in Colorado is the weather. Where else can you find a day like this within the middle of the winter season? Granted, my friend and I weren't wearing tank tops, but we were wearing our cozy sweatshirts and enjoying the Colorado sunshine.

Hiking up the hill with one of my dearest friends made for a wonderful afternoon. She is one of my friends that can walk in silence with me and we are both okay with that. I was feeling a bit sad in my thoughts, and yet I laughed watching my golden retriever revert to her puppy days as she ran back and forth ahead of us.

About half way to the top of the trail, I said, "I love Colorado. It just feels like home." With the red dirt beneath my feet, I squinted against the bright sunlight and breathed deeply the cool fresh mountain air. Pikes Peak and the front range were spread out before me and I felt comfort in creation.

Living in Africa for 5 months, and only recently returning, I have found myself in a season of homecoming. My friend with whom I was walking also has just returned to Colorado after a time away. As I expressed that Colorado was just home, her smile and her agreement said it all.

Our time away changed my husband and I. Time away changed our friend. Colorado may not be filled with the same activities or even the same people as it once was, but this place is where I can breathe deep the familiar smells of the place I come from.

I continued hiking, still a bit sad in my thoughts, and yet I felt God all around me as I walked the trail to the view you see in the picture above. When we are home, there should be something healing in arriving there, experiencing the familiar, being able to rest in what we know.

I began thinking that God gave us His creation to call our hearts to the beauty of what is to come. In His creation, in the way He created you personally to experience it, there is a rest that calls to us. Whether it is the mountains of Colorado, the lush green of the African bush, or the wide oceans of the coastal places, there is something of Him displayed for you. Sunrises and sunsets, rain on your face or the warmth of the shining sun, it is a way to experience the comfort He's given to us now and yearn for that which is yet to come.

Jesus said that He has prepared a place for us.

As I reached the top of that hill, God reminded me that He is with me and that I was not alone in my somewhat sad thoughts. He is all around me, displaying his beauty and glory in the red dirt, the bright sunlight, the cool air, and even in the youthful frolicking of my dog.

God reminded me that unlike this homecoming that has held some joy and some sadness, in the homecoming to come, He will be what is familiar to me. He is the most intimate thing I have with me now that will still be with me then.

I pray you take some time to hike a trail or watch a sunset. May you find comfort in Him, your true home.

Take a deep breath, He is in it.