A barefooted stroll down a muddy memory lane

First, I want to start by thanking the Lord for the absolutely incredible weather we've had lately (starting Thursday and ending Sunday afternoon). It has been so refreshing to walk outside and feel the sun's rays beating down on me. I absolutely love it.
Second, sorry- this is going to be long.
So I guess the whole memory lane thing started on Thursday evening as I was cleaning my dorm room a little. While I was reorganizing my drawers, I came across a VHS labeled Huntertown Video, 2001. So, out of curiosity I put it back into my VCR, and what started playing? The video montage they played at my 6th grade graduation. 6th GRADE!! So then I started thinking about how long ago that was, how much has changed since then, etc.

I then took a break from my walk down memory lane and went home.

This weekend was so relaxing and spiritually restful. It was so nice to go home and know that all I had to do was spend time with my family. I love quality family time, even if it's just sitting in the same room watching House- everything is a reminder of how God has blessed me in a multitude of ways- especially with an amazing family. We pick on eachother a lot, but there is so much love in that house- it's completely indescribable.

And besides that- how much better can a weekend get when it starts with dinner at the Pueb?

Sunday afternoon after church we just spent the day outside. Mack and Dad threw a baseball in the street, Mom went on a walk, then she and I laid out on the back deck, all 4 of us played Cornhole (during which they mocked me mercilessly), and Dad and I washed and waxed Jasper (my car). It was a very relaxing (yet productive) day. Once Jasper was all clean and ready for the trip back to BGKY, I decided to take him out for a little drive around Versailles. Since my dog likes car trips so much, I took her with me.
Well- we didn't really make it very far before I stopped the car and got out. (By the way- my decision to go for a drive was so spur of the moment, I wasn't wearing shoes...) Jasper, Oreo, and I made it about a half mile from my house- over to my old elementary school. They had done a lot of work on it over the summer and I still hadn't seen it, so I went over there. I got out of the car, and immediately the memories started coming back. I remembered how the bus circle USED to look- especially on career day. Each year there would be firemen with their trucks out there, the army had a jeep with the big inflatable army guy we beat up on every year, an ambulance that we could go in and see all the monitors and such, a police car that we got to turn the sirens on and off in, and a helicopter that would lift off from a field right before school let out.
Just around the corner of the new gym was the place that held the most memories by far... the playground. How many of you can say that very many of your important memories from elementary school happened outside of the playground? There were the swings from which we belted so many songs (swingin' and singin'), the monkey bars I could never get up on, the spiderweb that I hung upside down from for eternites, the jungle-gym type thing with slides that we played our Titanic game on (I was always Rose and my crush was Jack, oh happy day), and then of course there was the field that had so many purposes (soccer, baseball, football, and kickball) all of which our class was eventually banned from playing. Then there were all the doors leading outside- the door from Room 2- my kindergarden room: Mrs. Carey's K/1 class. The door outside Mrs. Kilgallin's (now Hogue's) room- the woman who singlehandedly made sure I was challenged academically. So I sat on a swing (and considered bursting into song) while I watched my dog run across the fields. As I was looking around, I saw a path going through the trees and was immediately reminded of the other side of elementary school- the times when not everyone was equal: The Clubhouses.
These clubhouses were reserved for the 'popular' kids (looking back it was mostly for the kids who stayed after school for ETC). Other kids weren't allowed back there- invitation only. In my 6 years at Huntertown, I never walked back there. I had no idea what was so special about the clubhouses, but I wanted to be a part of it so badly- I wanted in on the secret. So, my 18-year-old barefooted self walked across a mulchy, rocky, field of prickly bushes to get to that mysterious, muddy path.
When I got there, I looked around, disappointed. This is it? This is what I wanted to be a part of? Some bent sticks? That's all it was. Some bushes and trees with overhanging branches that they sat under and chatted until the recess whistles blew. Not a single ray of sun could pass through the trees above and the bushes too- it was shady, dark, and kind of scary, actually. I knew they never ventured beyond those brambles as kids, they never followed the path around the bend. So, my bare feet and I started squelching through the mud- through the opening in the trees, until I had to stop. I was absoultely dumbfounded by what I saw.

It was beautiful- God spread his creation out infront of me like a painting. Spring is full-force back in Versailles. The sun was shining down on the bluegrass (yes- some of the grass was indeed so green it appeared blue) all the trees were budding, bees were buzzing around the wildflowers, and the tall grass was swaying in the breeze. And I thought to myself, "Why in the world didn't they come back here? It's only like, 20 more feet. I'm pretty sure they weren't actually allowed to even be in the bushes back here at all, so why not make it worth it?"
They just stopped at what they thought looked cool, sheltered them, gave them a place to hang out. If they had kept going, however, they would have discovered a place even more beautiful, even more peaceful and secluded.

Then I wondered- is this how we treat life- content to settle for what the world offers? It sure does seem cool, or seem good to us at the time. So we stop searching; we never go beyond what we're given. If we did however, we would enter into the astoundingly beautiful life that God wants to give us.

Consider the following:
Which would you choose for your clubhouse: the brambly bushes or the field of wildflowers?
Which have you chosen for your life: the trappings of this world or the life God wants for you?

So, these were the revelations brought to me by my barefooted stroll down a muddy memory lane.