Skip to main content

Look and See

The rusty redness of the canyons stood so magnificently. The wind blew through the trees, giving me enough coolness to balance the burning sun that was bathing my skin. And the trail became steeper and steeper with each step that I took.

But I wanted to reach the top of that mountain.

"Don't look down..."

I'm not afraid of heights. Just of falling.

But my love for accomplishing an adventure will tend to exceed my fear of falling. So, I continued up. And up.

And up...

We had reached midpoint of the trail that lead to the Hidden Canyon. It was shady, so we rested a little bit. I took a moment to look around.

"Zion is beautiful..."

As I looked out, awestruck at the amazingness of the wilderness that we were camping in, they came into my head again.

They are always there.

I don't think they mean to come. I'm sure, really, that they would rather not. I know they would want me to enjoy my time and be with my friends and love the week.

But, unconsciously, my mind seem to enjoy them there, to trap them inside. Keep them there. Not allowing me to forget.

"I wish they were here with me."

And that's when it came. A thought. One sentence.

"I will be on your right hand and on your left."

Randomly.

I looked to my right. I looked to my left. There were mountains. There were trees. Beneath me, there was the canyon. Above me, birds soaring through the sky.

"I will be on your right hand and on your left..."

And it was true. The mountains, the sky, the ground, the birds flying, the bugs buzzing, the clouds rolling... were all His.

I was surrounded by Him. Encompassed by His work created by His hands. I was not alone. Nor am I ever.

What a wonderful world! What a beautiful place! This fan-dandy, colorful, 3-D planet that we live in, was made for us!

"Thank you, for making this place so beautiful. Thank you for caring. Thank you for being there."

God is there. He is with us.

We just have to be willing to look around and see Him.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A New Normal

Life is unfigureoutable. One minute, it's going one way. And then the next, your life is forever changed. My name is Jensen Parrish. And my life has been changed. I was a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, serving in the Washington, Vancouver Mission, speaking American Sign Language. I had been out for a year. My brother, Ian Parrish, was also a missionary for the church, serving in the South Dakota, Rapid City Mission. Our missions meant EVERYTHING to us. The growth that we developed there has truly changed our lives. The principles that we taught became firmly rooted in us. Little did we know, that our testimonies of those very principles would be put to the test, in the most unexpected way. On February 23, 2014, just three days after my year mark of being a missionary, I received the news from my mission president and his dear wife, that my mother, my father, and 2 younger brothers had peacefully passed on from this life into the next. The ca
20 comments
Read more

Little bit of Chaos

My home is a disaster. (Mom would not be happy with me right now...) Letters, cards and packages from a variety of caring people, wanting to do anything that they can to help. A basketball signed by the BYU Provo basketball team. Things that have been gathered, sitting in the living room, waiting for voyage to D.I. Things that I want to save. Chocolates. Clothes. Chaos. A little bit how I feel about life. These past two weeks have been the slowest and yet the fastest that I've ever experienced in my life. There are 5 steps in the grief: Denial Anger Bargaining Depression Acceptance Simple. Yet complicated. Or, my favorite word... Unfigureoutable. Why? Because we all grieve differently. Some people take control of the situation. Some people handle things well. If you're like me, you go on "shut-down, don't talk to me" mode. Which may not be the best way to handle a funeral. Because I wanted nothing more than to just run away from the world and hide.
17 comments
Read more

The Newest of "Normals"

I remember that night as if it were yesterday. I remember that the living room light in the apartment was off, but the kitchen light was on. I remember I was wearing an old EFY T-shirt with pink cotton pajama bottoms. I remember that whole day was a good one, a great one even- we had had dinner with an amazing family and had a great spiritual lesson. We were on a spiritual high from the day, excited and ready for our break the next day, excited to be able to check our emails, excited to talk to our families. I remember kneeling next to my bed, saying my night prayers. I remember saying, “Please bless Mom, Dad, Keegan and Liam at home. I’m grateful to be able to talk to them tomorrow.” I remember the knock at the door right at the end of my prayer. Confusion seemed to buzz throughout the apartment as the six of us girls poked our heads out of rooms, wondering, “Who is knocking at 10:30 at night?” I remember seeing my mission president and his wife, their faces sad, scared,
11 comments
Read more