Being chased in the woods.

An alert buck bounded across the path in the piney woods. A bird fluttered right in front of me and perched itself on a branch. It was so summery and breathtaking that I was sorry to see the edge of the forest in sight, knowing that I would soon be back on the road in the full sun (NOT that I don't like it..it's just the forest was so sweet smelling and soothing to my spirit). 

However, as I came slowly closer and closer, I realized that the car I had heard going down the road had stopped, and not moved on yet. My senses became conscious, but I continued on. As I finally saw the opening I stopped, there was a car parked..no wait, that was Dad's truck that he had left there since it ran out of gas. 

I proceeded. 

And then I really stopped, I could see the top of a car (and it wasn't our 1965 Ford truck) and a person, a man, coming towards me. I had one moment of hesitation, what if I was needed and it was someone searching for me? But common sense soon scratched that off the list as I knew that logically no one would began searching for me here. 

Did it ever occur to you that sometimes we might try to run through the trials and get them over with as quickly as possible? I mean, obviously they're usually uncomfortable and we don't want to dilly-dally in a season of pain. But what if God is using that season to draw you closer to Him and you're not getting the point?

As I was on my run today, I don't know what it was, perhaps the uncommon heat, the fact that I'd hardly eaten all day, or just that I wasn't feeling it--I was having a really hard time running. And it was very weird to me. But instead of racking my brain and psychologically damaging myself while asking the question, "why am I so tired?" over and over again (well...perhaps I did do that) I took it as an opportunity to see what God might be "telling" me.

Eventually too worn out to continue on, I stumbled walked through the pines and came upon a circle of green moss, placed placidly in the sunshine which streamed in through the swaying brown branches and made the drops of liquid coming off of the tree tops glisten. There were a few delicate ferns growing about and tiny mushrooms making a stand in the "towering" moss.

Though, thanks to Misha I knew that at that moment I was about to sit on millions of tardigrades, I sat down anyway and made myself comfortable on the cool moss. After a few peaceful minutes the sun began to caress the tree branches directly in front of me. What it revealed was that on the "bare" brown arms of the tree was lots and lots of green moss. With the moisture and the lighting, they looked like branches encased in emeralds. It was beautiful.

And then I realized that though that had been there all along, I had not seen it. "Something that has been there all along but you have not noticed." That was the line that came to my head. And though I still can't really make sense of what it was pertaining to, but it was nice to me and made me think more of how God is always, always with us, though we might not see Him, He reveals Himself to us in different ways. I had become too weakened and tired to run any longer, and I now knew that I had tired to run through a trial without God.

And I could not do that. 

I might eventually get through it, but it will be messy and I'll be heaving for breath and sweat will come down my brow. Not that it won't anyway, but I think that I won't end up collapsing at the end of the trial, rather than collapsing into God had I walked with Him. What I'm saying is that you're not going to be able to run through every trial. Perhaps it's a walking trial. You know, it might even be a soaring trial. But as Tim Shorey once said, in the sermon that this blog is named after, he thinks it is much more meaningful to him that God says He gives strength so that those who hope in Him so that they will walk and not grow faint than that He will make us run and not grow weary. I mean, either way, it's awesome--but Tim said that though an eagle is often used to illustrate Isaiah 40, he would much prefer a walking pilgrim, one that goes on and on through life and walks through many trials.

And I really liked that. I mean, at the time I was like, "well, I'd MUCH prefer the times when God just picks me up and makes me soar instead of walking for a long time," but as I said before, God could be using a "walking trial" for many things.

Like revealing Himself to you, or setting an example for others that are watching you, or for strengthening you when you feel the most weak and the one most slowly progressing. 

So those were my thoughts as I sat on the moss in the pines. And then I stood up, much refreshed and ready to continue, but walking this time. As I went through the rest of the pines I discovered just how much I would've missed had I been running. First of all, there was a beautiful buck to my left, then it hightailed and went farther ahead. As I stepped quietly onward the most delightful, joyful bird twittered past and the deer once more came in sight and bounced across the path and into the deep woods. I sighed because I could sense the woods thinning out to the opening. And then I saw it. Or, him.

Having a guy coming towards you in the woods isn't always the most delightful circumstance. I mean, it could be seriously romantic, however, that is not the case here. 

Bella (our dog) wasn't with me, but I did have my trusty knife...despite carrying it around 24/7 though, I've only ever used it for opening a toilet paper package so obviously, I wasn't that sure of myself. 

I turned around and ran as fast as I could, my thoughts ran as well, "Murder Mystery in the Murky Woods" yes, it sounded like a good front page story. But I wasn't going to let it happen. And of course as I ran I realized that it might just be a neighbor driving down the road and needing a pee break, but either way, I really didn't want to encounter them. So I ran. And I went to the opening of the pines out into the field and then to the gas well pad and struggled up the dyke, trying to get under cover as quickly as possible. 

By the time I'd reached the top I had it in my mind that the man was chasing me and was a sharp shooter, waiting to get his sights on me. So maybe this is slightly influenced by that scene in Sherlock Holmes, A Game of Shadows, but whatever. I ran and though I was still tired I somehow found strength to make my way across the flat gas pad and to the field again. Darting across the road, I was safely home. 

Here's the funny part:

Ten or so minutes later, and I'm starting the beginning of this blog post and the white car that I'd seen pulls into the driveway. Of course I immediately recognize it as Jonathan Stanely (our neighbor), and of course I quickly make the connection that it was him and not a runnoft criminal that had entered the woods and of course I felt disappointed to realize that it was only him stopping by to say that he'd been checking out some old wire or something at the entrance of the forest (or something completely mundane) and NOT some horrible criminal.

But I decided that I was going to think that it wasn't him, and therefore have the adventure that I know call, "That Day That A Man Chased Me Through The Woods". Sounds thrilling, doesn't it? :D I think I can envision my grandchildren asking me again and again for that story...and of course it will get better as time goes on, all stories do. :)

And finally, I want to post something completely unrelated to all of what I just wrote, but it's my blog, so I suppose it's okay. I watched this today and was quite wowed by it.

If you are old enough to handle some graphic photos, the topic of abortion and mass murder, and the emotion that comes upon you when you are suddenly amazed, then I really, really strongly advocate this movie. It's half an hour long, but sooo worth it. It's amazing.

Just amazing. Unlike a lot of other shows and movies out there, this is not a waste of time.

Lastly, one other thing...you should check out my older brother's blog post because he is a really good writer.

Unlike me, Andrew is extremely talented in his blogging and does amazing posts so I'd be very upset if his blog was shut down. (Why would his blog be shut down? Well, go read the post!) my sister Mattea does is a fantastic blogger as well. And they've been quite inspirational to me for starting my own blog. So if you at all like my blog, you should be thanking them. And my parents, who taught me how to write. :D