​Dear Friends,

There’s this massive pile of sticks and logs stuck in the middle of the creek.  It looks like it’s collected there over quite some time.
​
I was looking at that pile a while ago, and thinking about how that massive pile could have started with one small branch.  One small branch might have been caught by a rock in the stream, and then another, and then another….and that small, insignificant spot in the stream then grew and grew until it was blocking half the stream and collecting everything that happened to come through...sticks, trash, I’m pretty sure I saw a tee shirt in there.

We work like that sometimes, I think.  One small, insignificant issue might lead to bigger and bigger issues until we can’t do anything in life without it being affected by that one small, insignificant issue.  We keep collecting hurt and pain because we didn’t resolve and let go of other pain.

May we work this week to disentangle ourselves from those small, insignificant issues in life.   May we see them, recognize them, feel the pain in them...and then allow them to float down the stream on the top of the water instead of allowing them to continue collecting debris.  May we acknowledge their importance in our lives, and let them go.

I hope you have a wonderful week dear friends.

Love
Krista

Dear Friends,

There’s this bridge in the middle of Rock Creek park, you’ve probably seen it before.  It’s at a particularly sharp bend in the creek, where, because of the geology, there was little choice but to build a bridge

Boulder bridge is an apt name for it, as the bridge is built of massive boulders.  It is a beautiful bridge, you’ll frequently find folks taking pictures in front of it, but it’s also strong and resilient. It can weather plenty of storms and stand in its strength and resilience.  It holds strong in all sorts of weather and through the years...that bridge is going nowhere.

I was sitting on a rock jutting out of the side of the hill, looking at and thinking about that bridge the other day, I was thinking that while many times in life it is important to be soft, there are also many times in life where it’s really important to be strong and resilient, to be solid and steady, to stand firm.

Sometimes I think the work is figuring out when to stand strong and firm like that bridge, and when to soften.  Other times I think the work is figuring out how to do both, how to live in the state of solid and soft simultaneously, how to hold both truths in our hands at the same time.    

May we, this week, be strong when it’s important to be strong, may we give ourselves permission to soften when it’s time to soften, may we perhaps find a state where both might be true simultaneously.

Have an amazing day dear friends.

Love
Krista  
 

Dear Friends,

If you’ve ever been backpacking you might know that throughout a wilderness you’ll find “campsites”.  These campsites are usually by a water source, there are some that were established in the 1930’s by the CCC, and others that have been built along the way by different groups who start and add on to the campsite.

The thing with these areas is it’s really easy to lose the main trail.  There are branches that break off here and there going to different campsites, and it’s easy to find yourself wandering about, looking for the right path, looking for the path you’re supposed to be on.  It’s relatively easy to find your way back to the main trail, but not without wandering for a while.  Sometimes there are clear markers, like the duck below, sometimes you just wander until you walk across the most worn path, and sometimes you simply stay on the path you know you’re supposed to be on.  

I wrote this prompt and took this picture back in November when I was backpacking in West Virginia, but I never did anything with it, it didn’t feel right.  However, as I was slowly walking on a trail a few days ago in Rock Creek I was thinking about how there are times in life we just feel lost, we’ve wandered off the trail.  And sometimes it takes a lot of wandering before we get back on our path, other times it’s relatively quick to find that trail again, and there are times in life the path you're on just feels like the right one, it just feels correct.  As I was walking up a particular path in Rock Creek this past weekend I was struck by how it just felt right, it just felt correct, this path I’m on right now….but the wandering I took to get here, the time I spent lost and not sure where my trail went was right also, it was also part of this journey.  And if we’re being honest, I’m not sure what my trail looks like ahead of me, but at this moment in time I feel really good about the unknown also.

May we be ok with whatever path we’re on this week, whether it feels like we’re a little lost and wandering off the trail, or whether it feels exactly right for where we are right now.  May we learn from the path we’re on, whatever that might look like.

Have a fabulous day dear friends, I am so very thankful for each of you.

Love 
Krista
​