a mountain revisited

back in april, i took this photo of the girls and blogged about the experience with my momma. you should know that as you read this post.


at the risk of inducing nausea, i will say that everything we are experiencing here in the great golden state is quite new to us. i have spent mere days here prior to taking my boots off (literally- i come from chicago) and calling this place home. i step out my front door on an almost daily basis and stand in awe at the majesty that lies before my eyes. every season has been a new experience. fall was filled with 90 degree days, thanksgiving and christmas were a combination of crisp leaves, bright sunshine and high the 60's. winter was rainy one day and then sunny and warm the next. the spring (due to el nino) was quite wet and chilly with temperatures fluctuating between the 50's and the low 70's. all of this to say, it is like nothing i have ever experienced before.


as winter gave way to spring my eyes constantly delighted in the various hues of green that went up and down, right and left, filled with foliage that was both familiar and unfamiliar (like in the picture above). it was breathtaking.


as i mentioned in my previous post, scott and i spent last weekend in san jose. i greatly enjoyed my drive there. first, it was delightful because i was alone. that doesn't happen often enough these days and when it does i tend to feel footloose and fancy free. second, without a car full of lovely ladies under the age of 6, momma gets to control the dial on the radio. need i say more? but lastly, i enjoyed this drive immensely because it was a new path for me. my eyes were again in awe of what they took in. on all sides i was greeted by the rise of a mountains and the slopes of valleys. it was unpredictable and delightful. some hillsides were dotted with cows, others with palm trees and they would gently roll into valleys holding developments and city centers that these east coast eyes had never seen.


as i marvelled at the beauty, it suddenly dawned on me that most of what i was taking in was brown dotted with green. it was such a strange transition from what the hills looked like just a few month before when my mom was visiting. i kept thinking back to that day when my momma wanted to climb one of our beautiful california hills. i kept wondering what that exact hill looked like right now, late in the month of june.


and so today, i took the girls to that "mountain" and we went for a little hike.



and just as i had suspected, the green had given way to brown dotted with green. the lush foliage of the well watered spring had given way to the sun-dried brown of summer... and it got me thinking about things bigger than a mountain in san ramon, ca.


you see, we are very much like these california hills. when we spend time in The Word, we are like watered fields...


and when we walk away from our daily time with our Father, we wither a bit and become less green and perhaps, more brown.


i can relate. you see, with the start of summer (three girlies non-stop from sun up to sun down 7 days a week) i'm not getting much (if any) time to myself. as i make this transition, i find that the time i meet with my maker is less than i would desire. i've found myself reading my book for my bible study, but not making much time for my Bible itself.


i kind of liken it to talking about someone you care about with a friend, but not actually talking to that friend. you see, i'm reading about my maker through the words of someone else, but not actually meeting with my maker. sure, i have continued with my prayer life. but a prayer life without time in The Bible is a lot like a one sided conversation.

and so today, as i laughed out loud on a hilltop in san ramon, i came to the realization that God is once again gently nudging me... "hey girl, i'm right here. in this california nature i speak to you and point you towards me, but the real way to meet me? pick up your bible, girl! you're just like these hills. when you're in My Word, you're lush and green but when you step back from what i have to say, you wither a bit and get brown around the edges. sure there are dots of green (those lessons you've learned) but there's still a lot of brown that creeps up (the lessons that i was teaching you)."

and so today, i was reminded that to get through this season i need to stay absorbed in Him. to keep my little plants from withering (three bambinas), i need to keep myself from withering. it's funny, but when i came home from our trip i went to my Bible. i am sad to report that in just a short period of time it had accumulated a fine layer of dust.


listen, heavens, i have something to tell you. attention, earth, i've got a mouth full of words. my teaching, let it fall like gentle rain, my words arrive like morning dew, like a sprinkling rain on new grass, like spring showers on the garden. for it's God's name that i'm preaching- respond to the greatness of our God. deutoronomy 32:1-3