I stood at the top of the hill after hiking back from the Crystal Mill looking below me at our beloved Crystal River and resting due to the climb in the soft snow. The soft snow added to the cardiovascular work load. So as I stood there, I could literally feel my heart pounding hard and a little elevated in my chest. I liked this pounding! I could actually feel the strength of my heart responding to my body's extra need for oxygen. Alive, alive, alive, that is what each beat said to me. I was surrounded by heavenly beauty, the air was crisp but not cold and with each deep cleansing breath and each pounding heart beat I felt alive.
By the grace of God and the prayers of His people I have thus far survived six brain tumors, all thankfully benign. I have one itsy bitsy, tiny iny, brain tumor left. I have named it Seven. And yes, you guessed correctly, it is because it is the seventh. We are not going to treat Seven at this point. It is so small we may never have to treat it. But one thing I have learned through the journey that I did not choose to make, life is simply as the scriptures teach, "like a vapor." Yet it is precious beyond measure! God made mankind from the earth and breathed life into him, into her!
So yes I may seem a little crazy on a hiking trail. I sometimes shout out YooWoo for no other reason than I am overwhelmed by God's creation. Yes I may sing the "Sound of Music" slightly off key at the top of my lungs. And yes I may push a hike a little further than intended just because I want to see what is just around the next corner or just because I have made some internal destination as my goal, but I love to feel that pounding of my heart that says you are alive! You are alive!
God saw me in my mother's womb so says the Psalmist. God knew my journey and has walked with me in the "valley of the shadow of death." And when I feel my heart pounding in the midst of His world, I know that I too am a part of His marvelous creation and that I am His beloved! My friend, so are you!