Early October, 2005, we drive down US1 with dear friends, stopping along the way as we observe the stunning beauty of the northern California coast. This trip provides me with a gift I would need soon.
With signs promising an ocean view, we walk through the pedestrian walkway under US 1 along the coast, just south of Big Sur.
We aren’t disappointed.
A short walk further,
then this . . .
the breath-taking,
make-you-want-to-cry beauty
of McWay Falls
inaccessible except by kayak.
I can’t stop looking at it.
“Refuge” is what I see . I know
this will be my image of
a place of refuge.
Now twelve years later I remember
the catch in my breath
the beautiful ache in my heart.
That day, late October 2005, I have no way of knowing in just five weeks I will desperately be in need of a refuge. That’s when the phone call comes telling me that my brother, Gordon has died after being lost in the Montana wilderness mountains for thirty-two hours, found too late to reverse the effects of hypothermia.
After the flurry of activities surrounding the week of his death and his memorial service, overwhelming grief sets in. I remember McWay Falls, representing a refuge. I can tell you, God’s love and others who walk with me over the days days to follow look a lot like McWay Falls. It continues on bittersweet days when I remember, like today on my brother’s birthday, how sixty-one years ago, God gave a little girl a baby brother in answer to her earnest prayers.
That little girl grew up and knows God doesn’t always give us what we ask for, but he did then and I am forever grateful.
Psalm 62:5-8
Yes, my soul, find rest in God;
my hope comes from him.
I will not be shaken. My salvation and my honor depend on God;
He is my mighty rock, my refuge.
Trust in him at all times, you people;
pour out your hearts to him,
for God is our refuge.
(Other birthday posts: HERE and HERE)
Today, January 12, 2022, as I update this post, this metal photo sits on my kitchen window sill reminding me to find my rest in God. Without really thinking about it, I notice the family phot with Gordon still in it, sits right next to the image of McWay Falls. It seems appropriate, don’t you think?
