Happy Birthday, Emily!
Quote of the Day: “It is essential to our well-being, and to our lives, that we play and enjoy life. Every single day, do something that makes your heart sing.” Marcia Wieder
On the Armstrong Trail in Park City , a type of crystal snow lines the trail. It’s particularly beautiful when the sun shines on it. Nate, Mary and I did the trail on Saturday and a bit of new snow, maybe an inch or two, had fallen since the week before. There is much need for more snow at our resorts in Utah. This type of snow is called “Hoarfrost” and is defined as”white frost- a deposit of needle-like ice crystals formed on the ground by direct condensation at temperatures below freezing point”. Despite its beauty, it’s especially dangerous when a new layer of snow lands upon it. The new snow can’t adhere to the bottom layer and so it’s the perfect formula for an avalanche.
It reminds me of life. If you don’t have a strong foundation in an area of your life or if you don’t know what you would do ahead of time in a particular situation, it’s like the hoarfrost- the next layer of life won’t adhere to or mesh with the earlier part of your life and can cause a big rumble. I think I have always expected my life to run smoothly, which seems a little strange in a world where things don’t often go the way we want or think they should. Of course, we can up our percentages for a happy, successful future when we make good decisions. Our odds improve but there is no guarantee. One thing we all fear is the unknown out there. This has been a year of seeing the unknown for me but it all comes down to our foundation and core beliefs. I always go back to and tell myself to rely on the things I know are true, the core values that make up my life, the things that really matter.
For me, it’s all about family and health. If my children and their spouses and their children are ok, then I’m ok. I think I can deal with the other stuff, but what I really care about is their well-being. I would do anything for my kids and sometimes it’s hard to know that I can’t do something for them, they need to do it themselves and I have to back away and let them make hard decisions. It’s ok if they fail, it’s better that they tried, but nonetheless it’s their deal. I think I have been lucky to have children that have listened to and taken advise from their parents, but pretty soon, parent’s opinions are secondary to their own. I remember someone saying once that “the potential your children can reach is much greater than you can imagine” and I love that. Especially because, parents aren’t suppose to plan their children’s lives. We each get to decide what’s best for us and if we do it wrong, well then it’s ours to learn from. Then we don’t get to blame anyone else either.
I keep picturing in my mind an experience that Lynne had while she was doing her mail route. She looked at her route for the day and noticed a package that belonged to a woman in a rural area. She thought about her all day. She had a son that had battled cancer as a teenager and then very recently had passed away. He was young, still in his late teens. When Lynne got closer to the home, she could see the woman in the yard and was able to talk with her. Lynne wondered how she could be dealing with the loss of her son. The woman had a strong belief in Christ and gave Lynne a bookmark that had belonged to her son with a scripture on it. Lynne was amazed at her strength. She said that when her son was in the hospital, he developed a deep friendship with a girl who also had cancer and had passed away. Right before he passed away, he somehow made some reference to his friend, that she was coming for him. It was very comforting to his mom. I was glad Lynne shared this story with me. I know Lynne was searching for some kind of spiritual guidance as her own life was coming to a close.
Hoarfrost crystals on Armstrong Trail
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