As I sat there on the rocks along Lake Superior during a recent family trip to the North Shore, I found an unexpected peace. Amid the occasional shout from one child or another as they found the “perfect” rock or one shaped like a heart, I still found it. The waves slowly lapped against the rocks and I took a deep breath. I began to realize that I had been holding my breath and waiting for relief for quite a while. If it wasn’t one thing, it was another, this summer. While there were so many great days of sweet and blissful memories, there were many others that made my summer seas full of tumult and difficulty. The heaviness in my chest sighed as I sat there with hardly a care in the world, even if it only lasted a short time. I may have found more therapy in those minutes–as I just stopped and listened–than I have in quite a while.
We watched a ship on the horizon making its way to the port. It’s one of our favorite activities every time we visit Duluth, but never has it struck me as profoundly as this time around. I found more symbolism to my recent days and weeks in that ship, the breaking waters, the water hitting the rocks and even in the travel of a single rock ripple than I could have ever searched for. The mightiness of the ship on the waters called to mind the greatness of God, His goodness and His strength even in the great waters of life. My awareness of the calm even as the waves came into shore called to mind that even as the chaos of life swirls around, there is beauty, simplicity and calm even if only on the smallest shore of my life.
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Hannah H Walberg
September 25, 2017
Very well said, Sarah! I had the same experience when we were in Duluth as well!
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