Joys...Or Snowshoeing Continued!

I hope you read my last post on snowshoeing. When I got into the yard with the snowshoes on I followed deer tracks to the edge of the yard and was amazed when I got to a huge compost pile I have been working on for years.  Well, "working on" is a misnomer...all I do is keep adding leaves.

I discovered the pile all kicked up by possibly the deer, turkey and who knows what else. Maybe the deer even used the cushion and warmth of the pile to bed down overnight.  This was quite interesting to see. 

A branch in winter.

I never got far because a bum toe started acting up pretty badly.  So, I headed back to the cabin, only about 25 yards away. I stopped at a little maple tree and discovered that buds are beginning to form on the tips of the little branches. Even in the dead of winter there was a very subtle sign of life right before my eyes. My mind raced forward, thinking about spring with new shoots of green coming on this little tree. What a hopeful thought!

How often do each of us race through our day or time with special friends and events and miss subtle things right in front of us. Perhaps for each of us too, discovering the presence of our Creator in the small things of life, will offer us hope during those dark days of our soul, when we think nothing is happening. Possibly the divine is really very much at work and we just don't see it or feel it. Consider that maybe, just maybe, we need a "bum toe" to slow us down in order to see the love around us, to be grateful for all that we do have and to know that God is nearer than we think! 

This "stroll" I had intended to take could have left me miserable because it didn't go the way I had wanted. I believe it was not a coincidence that when I had to stop, because of pain, that this was when I really saw what was right in front of me.  Hmmm. What joys might you experience next time you plan to take a stroll, especially if you have a "bum toe"?


Molly LaFond is a spiritual director and can offer appointments in either Two Rivers or Crivitz, Wi. She can be reached at 920.793.3530 or see mollylafond.com