A Blurred Reflection

Tag: trust

  • Steps

    Far below me on the canyon floor–well, more specifically, one of the many levels of the canyon floor–a round, muddy, teal-blue pool caught the five tiny rays that reached down to it, winking and twinkling them back to the sun on its barely-stirred ripples. Ivory walls rose straight up from this pool, circling up and…

  • They Killed the Biggest Bear

    I pointed Harley’s face towards the creek at the edge of the woods, speaking into her ear with quiet intensity. She lowered her head, wriggling away from my grasp. Then the lights came on. Her ears shot forward. Her eyes froze. Her hackles stood up. Growling,  she strained against me, but I did not let…

  • Trail Blazers

    Trail blazers. They are the women who hold their daughter’s hand and skip across the Walmart parking lot at mid-day. First to look into a small one’s eyes and say, “I made a mistake. Could you please forgive me?” First to trade old habits for new. First to say, “Yes,” when they’d have rather said,…

  • 5 Ways You Can Make Life Easier for Peeps with Social Anxiety

    I asked the babies, “What should I do if I say something very embarrassing in front of everyone?” “Run away,” declared the 8-year-old. “Cry,” from the 6-year-old, with empathy. “Get very mad and stomp my feet,” stated the 4-year-old, calmly, as if there was no other option. Hi, my name is Kara, and I have…

  • We Don’t Get To Be Here Long

    Bu-BUMP, bu-BUMP, goes the blood in my jugular vein, as if my blood vessels are a track and the blood cells are thoroughbreds, surging towards the finish line. I stomp the accelerator and turn the wheel into the mat of blackberry vines, very aware that my body is being forced back into the seat as…

  • If my hike had a soundtrack…

    The air was the perfect flavor of pine and clean wind as I sauntered along the smooth, shaded path past Lake Hebron that warm-but-not-too-warm day. The loons cried their short-lived daytime conversation and a bandana’d youth sat contemplatively underneath a fir tree, watching the reflection of clouds sweep across the slightly rippled water. His iPod played…

  • Courage

    Isn’t it crazy that even when everything I know and see is on the downstream side of insanity, just hanging on to hope by a thread, Jesus’ name is STILL ‘Deliverer’? Even when I feel like a skittering mouse, MY name, because of my divine heritage, is STILL ‘Courageous Victor’? I’ve thought to myself, “Maybe I’ll find a…

  • just call me Moe

    You know what’s so weird? I’m spending this entire year of my life in the wilderness field… well, the rest of my life, hopefully. And it’s the thing I’m the least cut out for. Seriously though. I’m introverted, preposterous and afraid of heights and drowning. Just the other day, a mother called me to talk about her concerns…

  • He Gave Me a New Name

    I stood on top of Fort Fredrick two days ago, and while ants bit my legs and the sea breeze whipped my hair, Jesus and I had a conversation about love. You gotta understand, I’m not so good at loving. Really though. I know you don’t believe me, but it’s true. I’m just learning now…

  • But He Always Offers Rest

    2 weeks ago, I was part of an amazing scouting adventure in the Florida Everglades. A recon. Research, networking, exploration and a harvesting of as many Glades skills as we could scavenge. My co-guides and I all knew it would be, to borrow the favorite expression of my friend Kathy, a very “interesting situation”. New adventures…