Dear Joanne,
Greetings from Mammoth Lakes, CA! I originally didn’t have much to say, but once I got started, I realized I guess I do. Here’s some thoughts from my Monday morning devotions out in Mammoth.
Today I did my devotions, sitting out in nature, and I found it so cool that of all the passages I should read to start my week, the text assigned happened to be Psalm 24. Here I am, sitting out in what I think is some of the BEST of God’s beautiful creation, and Scripture acknowledged just who to credit for that beauty. The opening verse read:
“The earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it,
the world, and all who live in it.”
What a cool reminder, that everything we see, both beautiful (like the snow on the distant mountains, and the sound of the wind blowing through the trees) and ordinary (like the dirt and the dust sticking to my feet) is special and attests to God, simply because it is something He made. I was so excited that the verse I read this morning happened to relate to my current place.
Not only my current place, but my current state. The opening line of this Psalm speaks to how wonderful God is, and his ownership of all things. But not only does this verse teach about God’s relationship to things; in the second line of this verse, it talks about his relationship to his people too. The earth is the Lords, yes, and “all who live in it.”
Joanne, I will be honest with you that I have had a really rough week. You know this and we have walked through much of the struggles of these past few weeks together. (Some families you’re born into, but some you happen to find. And it’s in times like this, that I know I truly found a sister in you. We happen to have had some pretty similar circumstances and struggles, and they’ve aligned to fall at almost the exact same time. And, like true sisters do, you’ve understood me and my point of view. Thank you. But anyway, back to this verse.) And so I think, when I read this, what a blessing, that coming off of such a rough week, I get to find respite in nature, and when I open Scripture here I find a reminder of the things that can comfort me most. That this nature in which I’m seeking peace belongs to God, and my soul that longs also for peace, that too belongs to God! It is such a simple verse, but it proclaims so much honor and credit and glory to God.
Today, I give him not just praise for “founding this earth upon the seas” but for creating and owning and holding my soul. I look at my life and all of the blessings– the beautiful friends I’m with, the beautiful friends I miss (you especially), the vibrantly pink sunset last night, the opportunity to run in and reminisce on and and learn even more about my favorite place in the world (which is here)– and I not only thank God, but I give it to him too. Because it’s all His anyway.
And I also look at the things I’m struggling with– hurt with/from/for/to others, navigating my own confused heart and head, stress and anger and a struggle to forgive– and I give those things to God too. Because the earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, and all who live in it, and his hands are big enough to hold me, and all of my gratefulness, even alongside all of my problems.
I’m enjoying this respite from my hometown and daily life. I know we’ve been saying it for years, but I promise we’ll take you here at some point when you visit us in California. You need to see a place like this in person. Miss you Hoanne!
Your “sister from another mister,”
-Mare
PS– Daisy and Keel and Janna say hello! :) <3
(This post is part of a ten-week-long summer blogging challenge with Joanne Lee. Some of our posts, like this one, are written in the format of letters to each other. To see Joanne’s posts, check out her blog here!)
The More the Marianer 