The other day I utilized the beauty of the Stillwater Prairie and Maple Ridge Reserves to give me a boost through what was otherwise going to be a mundane ninety-minute run. If you have an appetite for nature and walking trails, either of these parks will exceed your expectations.
Our oldest, Jason, and his family crossed the Stillwater River exiting Maple Ridge to enter Stillwater Prairie last October.
I was about halfway through my run and was on the Maple Ridge side of the Stillwater River when I suddenly came upon a large group of fifty or so people standing near a creek that fed the river. I figured it was some educational class and apologetically wove my way through the gathering.
I continued on my run, and as I looped back to get to my starting point at the Stillwater Prairie side of the river, the group standing on the small bridge above the feeder creek was still there. I decided to slow down and try to figure out what was happening.
Suddenly, I realized I had come upon a memorial service. One by one, people would come to the head of the group, say something nice about the person they were memorializing, take a scoop of his ashes, and pour them into the creek.
Deciding it would be disrespectful to run through the group of people, I paused, listened, and offered up some silent prayers for the deceased and his loved ones.
The lessons I learned from listening to those describing their friend:
- Life is short.
- We have no control over when the Good Lord decides to take us to our permanent home.
- It’s important to laugh, stay loose, and not take life too seriously.
- Make each friend feel as though they are your best.
- The only day we have control is today, so we need to make it our best ever.
Questions
Do you wake up each day to make it your best day ever?
Do you take life loosely or too seriously?
How often do you laugh?
Do you make your friends feel as though each of them are your best?
It never ceases to amaze me how many lessons can be learned by being one with nature.
Isaiah 55:12, ““For you shall go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and the hills before you shall break forth into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.”
Proverbs 17:22, “A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.”
P.E.A.C.E.
Jay@EagleLaunch.com
