Cape Cod is one of my favorite places to run. (Actually, it’s my favorite place to do a lot of things.) In North Truro, where Rob and I met, there is a beautiful (and beautifully flat) spot to run along Route 6A. It is heavily populated with beachfront homes, hotels and rental cottages. My favorite are Day’s Cottages, a string of tiny saltboxes shaped like the green houses in Monopoly – each named for a flower – Daisy, Rose, Violet, Larkspur… The road is just one lane in either direction, but since there are plenty of driveways to dart into when the cars go past, it always feels safe, even in the height of summer.
Cape Cod Bay is just on the other side of the cottages and houses, so there are sneak peaks of the beach and refreshing blue water in the gaps between the buildings and glimpses of yesterday’s beach towels, flapping in the wind. The beauty of it all makes the run so easy.
Except when the fog is thick. Then there are no water views or “possibilities beyond” in the gaps. I see more of the cottages themselves as I’m forced to look at what is closest to me. Like when a person loses one sense and the others grow stronger. I see the roof lines, the color of the siding and trim. I’m more apt to notice things in disrepair. It’s not as beautiful, but it is interesting to focus my eyes and attention on something I am normally too distracted to see.
Isn’t it like that with life, too? In times of uncertainty, we are forced to focus on what we know, and we come face-to-face with that which is in disrepair right around us. It makes the world seem smaller, but not for long, because periods of uncertainty or trial are often followed by growth as we exercise muscles of trust, courage, faith.
The world seems to contract just before it expands.
Returning to what we know – the truth, the nest, our family and closest friends, is a necessary part of the process of spreading our wings.
1 Corinthians 13:12
We don’t yet see things clearly.
We’re squinting in a fog, peering through a mist.
But it won’t be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright!
We’ll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us,
knowing him directly just as he knows us!
Kim Perry Writes 
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