walking wounded

After the idyllic last day in Westlake Village before starting the last semester of my college career, I'm a little sore. My best friend flew out for New Years and to start 2010, the new year. As I drove to the airport to pick her up on NYE, I thought about how most people look forward to celebrating the end of a year, the chance to start over. It inevitably and gracefully brings hope as though the sun is rising over the darkness of the times of pain, sorrow, struggles, and suffering throughout the past year. Yesterday was spent hiking through Escondido Falls in Malibu. It was a divine way to experience something new, something beautiful. Though I am sore today and have minor scrapes, the experience requires minimal healing. Come 2011 the trip to the falls will be a heartwarming memory that left only a scar in one of the trees at the top water wall of our initials.

Some memories of 2009 were much more heart-hurting, many wounded us all, and most require healing throughout this new year. Stepping off the plane this morning, the beautiful snow gracefully reminded me that though the new year has come, we are still in the season of winter. Though the Spring will soon blossom hope and opportunities in our lives, the winter will continue to be a time of mourning. The snow decorates the trees that used to be full of leaves and fruit. Though there is beauty in the sorrow, the sorrow is still present. It is that season.

I believe in hope. I believe in purpose.
But I will pray for the strength to walk wounded with others, with the knowledge that healing, restoration, resilience, and recovery is as faithful as the coming of the rising sun and the changing seasons.