Yellowstone River - “The Wolf will Live with the Lamb”

 

The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them.

Isaiah 11:6 

Oxbow Bend - “Wipe every tear from their eyes"

 

And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Look!  God's dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them.  they will be his people and god himself will be with them and be their God.  He will wipe every tear from their eyes.  There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.

He who was seated on the throne said, "I am making everything new!"  Then he said, "Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true."

Revelation 21:3-5

He will wipe every tear from their eyes.  There will be no more death or mourn

Moultrie Creek - What does Grief feel like?

 

What does Grief feel like?

Grief feels like you are moving through a bad dream you can’t wake up from. 

Grief is constantly asking “Why?” and knowing even if you had the answers they would never be good enough.

Grief is feeling lost in the places you have been before and being homesick for the past.

Grief feels like a deep ache that you can’t seem to pinpoint where it hurts…but the pain is there. 

Grief is feeling a part of you went away with them on the day they died. 

Grief is people saying lots of unhelpful things because they want you to feel better. Little do they know that when they say “They would want you to happy/strong” makes us feel that we are disappointing the ones we lost for feeling like we do. 

Grief is just going through the motions of your day in a steady haze.

Grief is the constant tug of war of holding on tightly to what was and letting go of what might have been. 

Grief is walking through a thick brain fog with your loss always on your mind but your daily tasks far from it. 

Grief is Googling if how you are feeling is normal and desperately looking for a timelines for when you might be better. Being rushed by others to move on makes this even harder to heal on your own time. 

Grief is having the overwhelming feeling of guilt for moving on without them or for things that were said or went unsaid. 

Grief is comparing yourself to how others are grieving and wondering if you are doing it right.

Grief is losing that feeling of “being home”. 

Grief is the feeling of being alone when you are with a group of people. 

Grief shakes you to your core, spins you around and drops you off in the middle of wreckage exposing your vulnerability. 

Grief is judging yourself for not being further than you are in your healing. Talk to yourself like you are consoling your best friend if they were going through the same thing. 

Grief can make you feel anger and question your faith. 

Grief can feel different from day to day even hour by hour. There are emotional ups and downs, drop offs, exhausting climbs and switch backs. 

Grief is the tossing and turning of sleepless nights and just wanting some respite from your own thoughts.

Grief cant be outrun. It catches up with you. Feeling it (even the sharpest edges) is the only way through. 

Grief can sometimes feel like looking at the world through a dark filter with the colors you used to love muted in comparison.

Grief is whispering “I miss you” and looking everywhere for a sign from them.  

Grief is worrying that you will never feel normal and comfortable in your own life again.

Grief feels like just wanting a hug or a simple “I’m here for you” instead of people trying to rationalize your loss or try to fix how you are feeling. 

Grief is the rude awakening that when your whole world world has stopped, the rest of the world keeps moving unscathed. 

Grief feels like choosing to be alone because small talk is exhausting and being with people who can’t relate feels even more isolating. 

Grief feels like suffocating on the reality that there will be no new memories so you hold on so tightly to the past. 

Grief feels like backing out of plans because you aren’t sure how you will feel on that particular day.

Grief feels like fear. We have seen that life is fragile and that can bring out anxiety and panic attacks. 

Grief is waking up in the morning and losing them all over again.

Grief is going about your everyday tasks and being hit with a wave of sadness and disbelief at the realization that they are gone. 

Grief feels like being deep in dispair and for some time, it may feel like you don’t have a place in this world. 

Grief feels like being back to the first day you lost them after hearing a particular song or driving past a place you enjoyed together.

Grief is feeling a little jealous of seeing others with their loved ones and envious of seeing people in their mundane lives. 

Grief feels like dreading holidays and special events instead of how you used to look forward to them.

Grief is trying to pretend you are ok on the outside while feeling torn apart on the inside. 

Grief is wanting others to mention their loved one and wishing people knew that it helps to hear their name and stories about them. They are never far from our minds anyways.

Grief is learning that these feelings are ever changing and it will be with us in some degree for the rest of our lives. 

Grief is a measure of how much love you gave them while they were here so the pain is of losing them fills that empty space. In time, we learn how to live with that heaviness. 

The heartache begins to soften. 

Tears and smiles can coexist. 

Grief is learning how to keep them close to us in other ways. The best memories can never die. And because of that, we will carry it with us until we see them again

Written by Kristie Reitz

The After Glow

Crystal Michelle Fallin June 19, 1984 - August 18, 2019

Pikes Peak - The Path of Life

 

I keep my eyes always on the Lord.  With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken.  Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest secure, because you will not abandon me  to the realm of the dead, nor will you let your faithful one see decay.  You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.

Psalm 16:18-11 NIV

Crystal Creek Reservoir

 

Jesus asked, "Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?"  The expert in the law replied, "The one who had mercy on him."  Jesus told him, "Go and do likewise."

Luke 10:36-37 NIV

Thought for the Day:  Everyone I meet is my neighbor.

Pikes Peak - You Knew Me before I was Born

For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb.  I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.  Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.  My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth.  Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.

Psalm 139:13-16 ESV

Trail Ridge Road - The Heart of Man

 The LORD said to Samuel, "The LORD does not look at the things people look at.  People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart."

1 Samuel 16:7 NIV

September 7 is the 2nd anniversary of laying  my daughter Crystal to rest near her grandmother’s grave in Columbus Georgia.  To honor her, we visited the river bank where her friends held a life’s celebration honoring her life.  We said a prayer and threw a bouquet of flowers on the river watching the tide carrying them to her “crossing the bar” to the other side.  

Crossing the Bar

Alfred Lord Tennyson - 1809-1892

 Sunset and evening star,

  And one clear call for me!
And may there be no moaning of the bar,
  When I put out to sea,

But such a tide as moving seems asleep,
  Too full for sound and foam,
When that which drew from out the boundless deep
  Turns again home.

Twilight and evening bell,
  And after that the dark! 
And may there be no sadness of farewell,
  When I embark;

For tho’ from out our bourne of Time and Place
  The flood may bear me far,
I hope to see my Pilot face to face 
  When I have cross’d the bar.

Wayfaring Stranger

 

Wayfaring Stranger

Song by Emmylou Harris

I am a poor wayfaring stranger

While traveling through this world of woe

Yet there's no sickness, toil or danger

in that bright world to which I go

I'm going there to see my father

I'm going there no more to roam

I'm only going over Jordan

I'm only going over home

I know dark clouds will gather around me

I know my way is rough and steep

Yet beauteous fields lie just before me

Where God's redeemed their vigils keep

I'm going there to my mother

She said she'd meet me when I come

I'm only going over Jordan

I'm only going over home.

Crossing Over to the Over Side

 

September 7, 2019 is the day we laid our daughter, Crystal Michelle Fallin to rest close to her grandmother's grave in Columbus, Georgia.  They are together on that peaceful shore.  God gives me hope.

"In my heart, I'm Celebrating your life at the river, relinquishing your hand and watching you cross over to that peaceful shore.  You are on the other side, safe and at peace waiting for the day your love ones too can cross over tot he other side."

Continental Divide - Broken Beauty

 

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.

Psalm 139:14 NIV

When my daughter died, I feel my heart has been broken into a thousand pieces.  God's promise is that Jesus can take our broken pieces and heal our brokenness and give us purpose.  

Thought for today:  God can heal my brokenness and give me purpose.

William Shakespeare- “Is there no Pity in the Clouds?”

 Is there no pity sitting in the clouds,

That sees into the bottom of my grief?

William Shakespeare

Lake Columbine - Nature's Healing

 

Light is sweet, and it pleases the eyes to see the sun.

Ecclesiastes 11:7 NIV

Garden of the Gods

 

"Keep your face toward the sunshine and you cannot see a shadow."

Helen Keller

Cascade Falls - To Climb the Liquid Mountains of the Sky

 "It's wonderful to climb the liquid mountains of the sky.  Behind me and before me is God and I have no fear."

Helen Keller

Mackinaw Island - Speak to the Earth and It will Teach You

 

"But ask the animals, and they will teach you,
or the birds in the sky, and they will tell you;
or speak to the earth, and it will teach you,
or let the fish in the sea inform you.
Which of all these does not know
that the hand of the LORD has done this?
In his hand is the life of every creature
and the breath of all mankind.
Does not the ear test words
as the tongue tastes food?
Is not wisdom found among the aged?
Does not long life bring understanding?

"To God belong wisdom and power;

counsel and understanding are his.

What he tears down cannot be rebuilt;

those he imprisons cannot be released.

If he holds back the waters, there is drought;

if he lets them loose, they devastate the land.

To him belong strength and insight;

both deceived and deceiver are his.

He leads rulers away stripped

and makes fools of judges.

He takes off the shackles put on by kings

and ties a loincloth around their waist.

He leads priests away stripped

and overthrows officials long established.

He silences the lips of trusted advisers

and takes away the discernment of elders.

He pours contempt on nobles

and disarms the mighty.

He reveals the deep things of darkness

and brings utter darkness into the light.

He  makes nations great, and destroys them;

he enlarges nations, and disperses them.

He deprives the leaders of the earth of their reason;

he makes them wander in a trackless waste.

They grope in darkness with no light;

he makes them stagger like drunkards.

"My eyes have seen all this,

my ears have heard and understood it."

Job 12:7-25, Job 13:1 NIV

Rocky Mountains - Love Never Fails

 Love never fails.  But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge it will pass away.  For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears.  When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child.  When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me.  Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face.  Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even a I am fully known.

And now these three remain:  faith, hope and love.  but the greatest of these is love.

1 Corinthians 13:8-13 NIV

Arbingdon, Virginia- Patience of a Farmer

 Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord's coming.  See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop and how patient he is for the autumn and spring rains.  You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord's coming is near.  Don't grumble against each other brothers, or you will be judged.  The Judge is standing at the door!

Brothers, as an example of patience in the face of suffering, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord.  As you know, we consider blessed those who have persevered.  You have heard of Job's perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about.  The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.

James 5:7-11 NIV

Marquette Lighthouse - Wings of the Morning

If I take the wings of the morning and settle at the 

farthest limits f the sea, even there your had shall lead me, 

and your right hand shalt hold me fast.

Psalm 139:9-10 NRSV

Clingmans Dome - The God of Daniel

The King Darius wrote to all the people, nations and men of every language throughout the land:

"May you prosper greatly!"

I issue a decree that in every part of my kingdom people must fear and reverence the God of Daniel.

"For his is the living God and he endures forever; his kingdom will not be destroyed,

his dominion will never end.  He recuses and he saves; he performs signs and wonders on the heavens and on the earth.  He has rescued Daniel from the power of the lions."

Daniel 6:25-27 NIV

Smokey Mountains - Hope in him

 

The LORD is good to those whose hope 

is in him,  to the one who seeks him; 

it is good to wait quietly 

for the salvation of the LORD.

It is good for a man to bear the yoke

while he is young.  

Let him sit alone in silence,

for the LORD has laid it on him,

Let him bury his face in the dust--

there may yet be hope.

Let him offer his cheek to one

who would strike him,

and let him be filled with disgrace.

For men are not cast off

by the LORD forever.

Though he brings grief, he will

show compassion, so great is his

unfailing love. For he does not 

willingly bring affliction

or grief to the children of men.

Lamentations 3:25-33 NIV

The Transfiguration

Then he said to them all:  "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.  For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it.  What good is it for a man to gain the whole world and yet lose or forfeit his very self?  If anyone is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.  I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God."

About eight days after Jesus said this, he took Peter, John and James with him and went up onto a mountain to pray.  As he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning.  Two men, Moses and Elijah, appeared in glorious splendor talking with Jesus.  They spoke about his departure, which he was about to bring to fulfillment at Jerusalem.  Peter and his companions were very sleepy, but when they became fully awake, they saw his glory and the tow men standing with him.  As the men were leaving Jesus Peter said to him, "Master, it is good for us to be here.  Let us put up three shelters--one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.  (He did not know what he was saying.)

While he was speaking, a cloud appeared and enveloped them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud.  A voice came from the cloud, saying, "this is my Son whom I have chosen; listen to him."  When the voice had spoken, they found that Jesus was alone.  The disciples kept this to themselves, and told no one of that time what they had seen.

Luke 9:23-36 NIV 

Forest Canyon - The Lord is My Strength and My Song

 In that day you will say:

"I will praise you O LORD,

Although you were angry with me,

your anger has turned away 

and you have comforted me.

Surely God is my salvation;

I will trust and not be afraid.

The LORD, the LORD, is my

strength and my song;

he has become my salvation."

Isaiah 12:1-2