Walk With Me...

Though youths grow weary and tired,
And vigorous young men stumble badly,
Yet those who wait for the LORD
Will gain new strength;
They will mount up with wings like eagles,
They will run and not get tired,
They will walk and not become weary.
- Isaiah 40:30-31

"I used to think that the ability to soar is the highest level of attainment. I've been thinking about that scripture again recently. Anyone can soar in the good times, but true strength comes in the ability to put one foot in front of another and being completely dependent on God." - Ann Smith

I've been wallowing a lot lately. I guess a part of it is the fact that I still live in a college town where community continues to be transitional and another transition season is just around the corner. You can smell it in the spring breeze already. Another baccaleaurate and commencement Saturday is sneaking up.

But this year, I think there's a little more wallowing than the usual. I'm also wallowing in the fact that this will be my first summer in the last 6 years that will not be spent in Anderson. If you haven't already caught on, yes, I'm a very sentimental person. Perhaps a little too sentimental every once in a while.

The deepest, darkest shades of the wallowing comes out with the people I would trust with my life. Not that I've truly completely lost all hope. But the confidence in the community allows me to get to the point of complete abandonment in the darkest shades of wallowing, knowing that this community is still rooting for me, believing that deep under the layers of wallowing, there's still a beacon of hope that I don't think I'll ever find the ability to let go of.

This evening, I was getting into my car to head home. But the sun was still up, and it didn't feel right to leave campus yet. So I took a walk around campus on one of my old routes. Somewhere after the halfway mark on that route, I was hit with image after image of faces that I had taken walks around the vicinity of the campus with, and the seasons and times - both of life and of the climate - that we had walked.

And then the words from my conversation with Ann earlier today hit me.

Anyone can soar in the good times, but true strength comes in the ability to put one foot in front of another and being completely dependent on God.

And then I thought about all the people I've taken that walk with.
And how we put one foot in front of another shoulder-to-shoulder.
And how we wallowed together from time to time.
And how I found God in them.

And then, I'm thankful.