The book arrived a day ago and I've already begun reading. Because of the busyness of the holidays, I had not been reading as much and I missed the spiritual challenge. I had asked God to lead me to new reading material and here was his answer.
Although this book deals with the death of a loved one, it has been very helpful to me. In many ways, I feel like I'm already a widow. There has been significant loss: a husband I can confide in, rely on, have significant conversations with, look to for wisdom and insight and help in making decisions, etc.
Chapter 4 deals with Healthy Ways to Relieve Your Pain, some of which are:
1. listen to music
2. spend time outdoors
3. get a pet - (NO - not this girl!)
4. write in a journal (or blog)
5. serve others
6. read the psalms
7. go to God
I knew it was good to be outside, but there it is in writing. They say that "not only are there physical benefits from the exercise and fresh air, but there are mental and spiritual benefits, too. Spending time in nature reminds us of the beauty and intricacies of God's creation. Just as many writers in the Bible have discovered, looking at the trees, the sky, and the sun takes your mind off negative thoughts and inspires worship of the Creator."
We didn't go out yesterday, Saturday. I got involved in laundry, grocery shopping and housework. I made 3 loaves of chocolate chip pumpkin bread, which Andy eats as his snack at various times throughout the day.
It rained all night and into the morning today. I didn't think we would be able to go out but then after lunch, we began to see patches of blue sky. I made the decision to go to Pakim Pond in the Brendan T. Byrne State Forest. We parked at the ranger station and hiked 3 miles to the pond. The weather was gorgeous - unseasonably warm. It felt more like spring or fall at 64 degrees. We hiked in our shirts, taking off our jackets. There are a lot of evergreens in this forest which adds greatly to the beauty of the path. It's an easy trail, sandy and covered with pine needles.
I was probably overly ambitious to try to hike 3 miles but it's such a lovely path on a warm day, so why not? And it had been a long time since we'd been to the cedar swamp section on this trail. I always enjoyed the beautiful Atlantic white cedar trees. Many years ago, Andy told me a few tidbits about this tree that I thought were interesting. He said that these trees were used in colonial times as masts for their boats because they grew tall and straight and were resistant to decay. They are fairly rare, though, because they require pretty specific habitat for growth. They thrive in wet or swampy ground and mostly at low elevations. Does that sound like south Jersey???
We were feeling quite good in walking the three miles to the pond but I have to admit, the three miles felt a lot longer. We finally made it. We sat on the bench on the shore, but the thought of hiking another three miles to get back to our car got us up and moving again.
The three miles back seemed doubly long. I was sure we were on the right path and was trying not to question myself. I certainly didn't verbalize my angst because I didn't want to stress Andy out. He said his knees and feet were hurting. The sun was getting lower in the sky, it was getting late...but we did make it. Whew! That was quite a workout: 6 miles in 2 hours!
As tired as we were, the outdoors was good therapy for us today. We could walk in the woods and almost forget about our troubles.
As I was feeling like a widow, the Lord reminded me that he watches over the orphan and the widow. How comforting these verses are:
Psalm 68:4-5 - "Sing to God, sing praise to his name, extol him who rides on the clouds - his name is the LORD and rejoice before him. A father to the fatherless, defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling."
Psalm 146:9 - "The LORD watches over the alien and sustains the fatherless and the widow."
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