Today Matthew, Benjamin and I went up to my hometown, Lake Arrowhead, for a little visit. Because my parents no longer live there, I don't go up very often. This makes me sad. I loved growing up there, and I miss it. I miss the trees and the fresh air and the quiet. I miss living in a small town, and I miss forests and seasons. So it was really nice to have a little visit. I had a great time with my boys, and I waxed nostalgic a bit. We visited the village, played in the playground, went by my old high school, and had a little picnic on the rim. It's interesting to me how everything seems at once so different and so much the same. The fires of the last several years have, in places, rendered my home unrecognizable. This pains me deeply. It has been difficult watching my childhood go up in flames year after year. I've literally watched friends' houses burn down on television. I've seen flames licking the parking lot of my school. I've sat on my couch, tears streaming down my face, watching so many places that I grew up in be completely decimated. But today, in the midst of scattered, charred, remnants of trees, I saw green. I saw new life creeping over the hillside. And I felt hope. Hope that where the old has died, the new has come. Hope that while my childhood is gone and my old self, the one that played in those hills, seems miles away from the person I am now, God has made me new. And I have the two great loves of my life to share my ever growing self with.
The swing was not a big hit
Today Matthew, Benjamin and I went up to my hometown, Lake Arrowhead, for a little visit. Because my parents no longer live there, I don't go up very often. This makes me sad. I loved growing up there, and I miss it. I miss the trees and the fresh air and the quiet. I miss living in a small town, and I miss forests and seasons. So it was really nice to have a little visit. I had a great time with my boys, and I waxed nostalgic a bit. We visited the village, played in the playground, went by my old high school, and had a little picnic on the rim. It's interesting to me how everything seems at once so different and so much the same. The fires of the last several years have, in places, rendered my home unrecognizable. This pains me deeply. It has been difficult watching my childhood go up in flames year after year. I've literally watched friends' houses burn down on television. I've seen flames licking the parking lot of my school. I've sat on my couch, tears streaming down my face, watching so many places that I grew up in be completely decimated. But today, in the midst of scattered, charred, remnants of trees, I saw green. I saw new life creeping over the hillside. And I felt hope. Hope that where the old has died, the new has come. Hope that while my childhood is gone and my old self, the one that played in those hills, seems miles away from the person I am now, God has made me new. And I have the two great loves of my life to share my ever growing self with.
The swing was not a big hit
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