I took the piney way.

p h o t o 

Last week was a week of "I want, I want, I want", "Well what about me's?" and a lot of "I wish...".

Well last week it also rained, and that rain taught me a thing or two.

Have you noticed that people are never satisfied with the weather?

Never ever.

We thank God for the moisture, but we complain about it ten seconds later.

Oh I wish it were sunny.

Oh I wish it would rain.

Oh I wish the snow would go away.

This and that.

Believe it or not, I've noticed that we are like that with a lot of life's circumstances. We just are.

We are imperfect humans who complain.

But the piney way taught me different.

It was rainy, and I was very grateful for it, of course (Except, that very morning I said...well as long the snow stays in the mountains...typical Dani.)

I was walking and enjoying the mist and feeling a little bit heavy with my workload but grateful for the refreshing cool that nipped your nose but not your toes.

Class was letting out and campus was getting busy.

I didn't really feel like maneuvering the crowd so I decided to take this little sidewalk path to my class that is rarely taken by anyone. The road less traveled, you know?

And as I was walking, this peace came over me. My mind cleared. I took a deep breath and it was piney. Piney. Fresh. Cold. Crisp. Luscious, really.

I felt the drips of rain on my nose.

A blip on my glasses.

It pitter-pattered against the piney smelling tree above me. Droopy with big, fat teardrops.

I looked up at it and I looked at the gray clouds. And I smiled.

And I was grateful, because I truly believe that God was reminding me that He was aware of me.

He knows me. He knows that I thrive for misty mountains and misty mornings. He knows I thrive for rainy trees and sunlight hitting leaves just right.

He knows I live for crisp air.

I chose to take that path, and I don't think God made me take it...I mean he doesn't usually prompt us that way all the time. But I took it and then His hand was there.

My cluttered mind and heavy shoulders were cleansed from the weepy sky and water-logged tree...and I am most thankful.

Like Robert Frost, that piney way made all the difference.

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