Good morning…
“Sue, I loved this daily devotional,” she wrote after yesterday’s post Fun Family Photos. “I’m one of five children and can so relate. Family trips are some of the best learning ground. I am printing out the paragraphs below to pin up on my fridge — maybe for the whole summer. So important to remember. Thank you. 💟
…we are always traveling through valley times and mountaintop experiences in our ordinary lives. We can’t cling to what we love and we can’t avoid the things we hate. No extreme emotional states, immense joy or deepest sorrow, remains stagnant, forever, unchanging. The highs and lows of life are both temporary. Oh, if we could just flow like a river through!
As we meander the back roads of life, we are wise to remember: whatever high peak or deep valley surrounds us right now, with God and time we will journey to a different experience. Up and down. Inside and out. Highs and lows. Before and after. Day and night. The rhythms of God are constantly ebbing and flowing. Riding on the current with our Creator, we are gradually guided through all of life’s stretching extremes.
If you were an early reader yesterday, you might be thinking to yourself, “That’s not what I read in yesterday’s post.” As people respond to our messages and the Spirit nudges me in new directions, I often rework our devotionals throughout the day. I borrowed this sentence from a dear friend who responded, “Oh, if we could just flow like a river through!”
Another loyal subscriber I have never met wrote from Pennsylvania: “You asked if we could just flow like a river? This reminded me of some of the best advice I ever got. When I went to Emory I worked in the computer center and my boss ended up becoming one of my best friends. He was older, married and so smart. When I would tell him about some drama with friends or dates or roommates he told me how life is like a river with rocks in it. I can take it easy and flow around them or I can get churned up and agitated by them but either way, I’m going to end up in the same place, down stream. How I travel through life is my choice.”
“I love that visualization,” she mused. “I think of the river analogy often. My kids sometimes call me “no drama, mama”. I’m so lucky to have some really wise friends. His other advice that I was grateful to receive was not to make any major life decision within a year of a tragic personal event. He delivered this nugget when I told him I was engaged less than a month after my brother was killed. The beauty was that he wasn’t making a judgment on the man. He was honoring my despair and lack of will to be able to make any decision. Three years later he and his wife attended my wedding. We’ve been friends for over 40 years and I am grateful for him every single day!”
Friends and family members travel with us through life, sharing wise nuggets along the way. I too like the analogy, “Life is like a river with rocks in it.” Will we take it easy and flow around them or will we get churned up and agitated? Either way, we are going to end up in the same place, down stream, guided by the gravity of God. How we each travel through life is our daily choice.
Her thoughts carry me to another wise nugget I have held dear for years: “The babbling brook would lose her song if God removed the rocks.”
Words of wisdom are like a fresh, flowing brook — like deep waters that spring forth from within, bubbling up inside the one with understanding (Proverbs 18:4, TPT).
…Sue…
