Just a Memory...sometimes colorful, sometimes stark, othertimes bittersweet...yet someday it will be: Just a Memory

I grew up near Dolly Sods Wilderness. And honestly, pictures do not do it justice. It is one of those rare places that you truly have to experience in order to fully appreciate. We locals have watched the terrain bathed in full green of Kalmia latifolia known to us simply as Mountain Laurel (I so had to look that up!), huckleberry vines in their peak color of deep burgundy, to snow in late summer (natures sure-fire way to calm the dust).  

Like most locals, I have some very colorful memories of summertime trips across the top with my dad and nieces. Even a couple from failed wintertime attempts to see how far an old Ford can get (locals and some extremely surprised tourists understand).  But I'd be remiss if I even pretended that all my memories of The Sods were colorful. Some are stark...some bittersweet...some very sad.

Yet even with these black-and-white stories, we locals still love The Sods and choose to go up a couple times a year just to see it in color. 

Shouldn't we see God like this?

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Each of us see God from a personal perspective. Maybe as the Creator who is unreachable (stark). The One who allows(ed) bad things to come into our lives instead of shielding us or our loved ones from the pain. Maybe as a stark God who doesn't want us to have any fun or enjoy life. 

Then there are those who say they always see God in color. As the Creator who is always near, smiling down with arms wide open. The God who has given them a heart of unwavering faith complete with joy and peace.

But then...there are the rest of us. 

Those of us who will admit seeing God in bittersweet color. Color that 

fades into black-and-white and back again...just maybe not as bright, more sepia-like than before.

I would love to say that we should always see God in full color, with open arms full of comfort and acceptance; to only see Him with eyes shining bright with love and joy. But honestly, that would make us something other than human and where's the logic in that? 

Ya see, when we look at God through a personal relationship, that perspective changes everything. But luckily for us...His perception of us never changes. He loves us unconditionally. And even on those stark days, He is on the peripheral, waiting for us to return to Him. Even when we get mad at Him, even when we don't trust Him, even on those days when we can't feel Him...He's still there. 

I know of some folks who can only see God in black and white. Right or wrong. Here or not. And to me personally, that is so sad.  Each of us have experienced stuff that hit us full force, making our heart hurt, making us cry, bleed, or get angry. But to what extent should real-life events have on our relationship with God?  Should they warp our ability to see Him as the Creator who gave us Jesus and the Holy Spirit? Should we allow real-life, hurting people, spiritual battles, religious nuts, chameleons even, to change how we see God?

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Y'all, I know first hand how hard it is to see life in bittersweet color. With that black-and-white, stark reality so fresh in mind.  And I know how easy it is to get mad at God, to question Him. BUT...

I once had someone say to me "Dreama, you really believe this stuff...don't you?"  And my answer was a resounding "Yes. I believe that God is looking out for me no matter what." There was a look of disbelief on the guy's face that told me he thought I was a fool.  Looking back now, I know that the reason I am able to see life in bittersweet color is because I know in my heart that even during the darkest of times, times when I didn't feel like believing, times when I couldn't see or feel God...Jesus was always in my picture. And that eventually, life events, sometimes colorful, sometimes stark, and other times plain ole bittersweet, would eventually become just a memory.

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Wishing y'all a blessed weekend,

In Christ with love and compassion, 

Coach Kelly

#YourLifeCoaching #BeyondTheMirror #WVStrong