Lichen

If you walk out of our Wyoming cabin door it looks like this right now.

Bland. Monotone. Super pokey. Kind of ugly. (Unless you’re into natural neutrals, which I SO am!) Wheatville. And yes, I know it’s not really wheat, I just call it that.

But after walking ten minutes uphill to secure one bar of reception you would find a break in the wheat. You would spy this completely fetching rock.

And then, because the glorious rock is displaying all your favorite colors to wear, you might crouch down to examine it even closer. Look at that texture. Look at that detail. Look at those color schemes. 

And a few minutes from that rock, there’s another one, with a lichen heart plastered on it. And on, and on.

It seems that while you could safely and accurately assess you are surrounded by wheat there are actually splashes and dashes of color here, there, and every which where. Isaiah said it best:

For the Lord shall comfort Zion: he will comfort all her waste places; and he will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the Lord; joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody.

I’m going to lichen the scriptures to life. Ba dum dum. But really:

If your life feels desaturated,

and your past, present, and future look like builder’s beige,

and spring seems forever away,

and you feel a bit faithless concerning the joy everyone is talking about,

and you can’t even muster the oomph to look up,

take comfort.

Heavenly Father has scattered love notes, and hope hints, and angels all over that wheat. And you’ll find them. Just keep moving.

Isaiah 51:3

"The universe was designed to testify of Christ." -Todd B. Parker

All of this really reminds me of S.H.—my gorgeous rock hound friend who wears the same colors I do. She suddenly lost her mom last month and is finding beauty in the beigey span of loss. To me, the real treasure is she has no regrets about their earthly relationship.