Sometimes we realize that we don’t know what’s just around the bend, just over the hill, or just around the corner in our lives.

Sometimes we realize that. Sometimes we don’t. But I’m guessing that in the post March 2020 world, more folks are realizing that maybe life isn’t quite as predictable as we might have hoped.

But maybe, just maybe, there’s a beautiful flip side to this unpredictability of the unforeseen future. Maybe, just maybe,we can learn to appreciate the moment we’re in a bit more.

We’ve all heard the saying to “Stop and Smell the Roses.” I’m thinking that phrase is so not just about roses, lol. I mean, yesterday it was good for me to stop and wonder at the Queen Victoria’s Lace. It was a good thing for me to take off my mask and smell the basil plant at the grocery store. It was a good thing for me to listen a little more intently to my son as he talked about some of his goals. It was good to take the extra minutes to help him choose his glasses and not smirk or be too quick to shut down his choices no matter how much I did or didn’t like them. (He always goes for the stand-out ones which stretches his mom who doesn’t quite like to stand out, lol, and I always like the glasses he picks –for him, not me!) It was a good thing for me to walk outside last night as I so often do, but this time,I saw the most amazing shooting star stream across the sky. Maybe stopping and smelling the roses for me today was having a conversation with the person on the phone who was just scheduling my son’s doctor’s appointment. I felt encouraged by the little connection with a human I’ve never met and will most likely never speak with again. But in that moment, we connected.

Maybe connecting is what it’s all about. Connecting with the world around us, connecting with others, connecting with God. Maybe some of the uncertainties of what we’ll face just over the hill can help us to better connect with the moment we’re in, and the ones were with. Am hoping so. Am trying to make it so. Am thankful that there’s always a flip side to the things we face in our lives. Always. I’ll remember that when I look at the horizon and wonder what’s just over the hill, and keep my feet and heart planted in the now.

Blessings ~

Heather

p.s. Here’s to hoping what’s just over the hill, around the bend, around the corner—is something beautiful ❤ and thankful that no matter what it is, God will be in the midst.