I was fortunate enough to spend nearly two months of 2023 back home in Michigan escaping the brutal heat of the Florida summer. Through Air B&B I’d rented the downstairs of a beautiful home that just happened to be on Lake Two, directly across the street from Lake Three where I had lived prior to moving away. It seemed serendipitous, to say the least.
My little home away from home had a lovely large bedroom with a desk where I could continue to work remotely. There was a spacious living area, ample bathroom, and no real kitchen, save a microwave, toaster, coffee maker, and small fridge, certainly the only items I needed, as anyone who knows me knows my relationship with kitchens.
Looking out the French doors leading to the paver patio covered by the deck above, I often felt like I was in my own little gnome home. The view from those doors was beyond spectacular. Through the wild landscaping could be seen a bird bath and a curved path that led to Lake Two.
Many mornings I would wake just as dawn was breaking and look through the doors to see mist rising from the water obscuring the reflection of the trees across the lake. I would hear the loons already fishing, their calls blending with the sandhill cranes. Wild Kingdom had nothing on this place! If it was warm enough or I was bundled enough I would take my coffee and sit on the glider outside my door and soak up the sunrise, the view, and the peace.
It’s funny, in hindsight, how we are given what we need to heal. I’d had a tumultuous year filled with heartache, heartbreak, endings, and new beginnings. Maybe I wasn’t fully aware that I hadn’t given myself time to grieve, to heal, always simply pushing forward, filling my days with work, trying to stay positive, praying, praying . . .
But this place.
By myself in this place I was allowed the space and the serenity to recover not only who I was, but where I was going and what I wanted. Being surrounded by my family and friends in a place I called home, feeling their love, listening to their own stories, filling myself with my kids and my grandkids . . . that’s what I needed.
And God knew. Of course He did.
I just needed to listen.
LiviKnit 