Day of Solitude

So today I took my day of solitude as suggested by the Student Life staff in preparation for becoming an RA. I was telling my friend Stacey last night that I hadn't really thought about doing it unless it was a strong feeling, and yesterday I thought it would be great to do it while I am here up in the mountains with nothing but the creek to hear.
The long and short of it is that it was a really great idea. It was pretty hard starting off at first wondering how I would spend six hours alone, amidst flies, lots of pollens, without music, a book, etc.. and I also didn't really feel like praying which was frustrating, because I wanted to do that for most of the time, So I just decided to meander on our 14 acres and into the neaghboring properties. It was cool acquainting myself with our property and know much better where certain aspen groves, or the rock wall were.
I finally made my way back across the creak and down to a spot where my little cousin and I had stopped cleaning the creek about a year ago. Olivia was a trooper then as we wnet all the way down the stream moving rocks, muck, twigs, etc...in the freezing cold water. We even had a few fish brush up against us. But back to today, I stopped at our final spot and sat down for a while and ate my banana. I finally felt like praying and it was really cool, because my mind went directly to my future RA staff next year, as I hadn't really prayed much for each person or the group as a whole much.
I then proceeded back across the stream and into the aspen grove where I did some name carving in the aspen and layed down to rest my eyes, never actually falling asleep as I was tormented by flies who liked to land on my face. I saw some of the coolest bugs such as a few bumblebees that were about an each long and could probably eat me, I also saw an orange bee that was a bit smaller that I had never seen. I watched and scared off a chipmunk and fed some fish that I named.
The fish were quite entertaining. I had gone back to my spot by the creek but this time sat on a stone by itself surrpounded by water. I had some worship songs come to my head so I figured I might as well sing them out loud until I was startled by a greenback cutthroat that leaped out of the water to catch a fish. His name is Wayne. As I kept singing more fish came out from under a tree covering adding up to a total of five. The coolest part was that I had earlier been cursing the flies, but later saw that they aren't necessarily devil, but serve a purpose. I would kill them if I could when they landed on me (I think I managed to hit myself in the nose, ear, temple, and forehead just trying to kill those damn bugs) and threw them into the stream. They would float lifelessly a little ways if I had thrown them the right distance, and.....up would pop my fish friends. I fed Winston, Jane, and Jenny, but was not able to give William any food, because he was the stupid one of the bunch. Winston even swam about a foot away from me after he ate the fly I threw to him. It was pretty cool.
Some other cool stuff that I thought about during the day was how I think that the water in a stream is kind of like a person. At least I could relate to it. I saw how it never stayed in one place, it was always moving and mixing with the water around it which we could call "other people" The water would sometimes glide over the rocks very easily, but sometimes it would crash into the rocks or splash around. I think this is kind of how life is. Sometimes it is calm and peaceful and you can't see anything happen, but sometimes it is so trecherous or tumultuous at times. But the cool thing about creeks is the beautiful sounds and glimmering light shines mostly when the water is going over the rocks and not during the times of peace. Maybe this is how our relationship with God is. The most beautiful during the hard times. But these times are typically followed by places of quiet and peace. It is also interesting to not that just like people we can see the ripples or the waves on the surface of the water, but from above we cannot see how the water is swirling and moving underneath the surface. I think that so many people can be judged by what we see on the outside such as our actions or words, but what truly makes the difference is when someone looks through that and knows there is more going on underneath. It's amazing what God can teach me through a little stream.
After the fish feeding I proceeded to the edge of our property where my friend Tim and I had chased a few coyotes who would not shut up. I got a bit nervous wondering if they frequented that area. I am pretty sure I would get my butt kicked if a few coyotes wanted to eat me. But let's not talk about that or the fact that our neighbors had seen two beers between our properties about a week ago.
Another cool thing that I thought about was how I don't really know if I am very good at living in the present. I have tons of thoughts and such about how great it is to live in the present, and how we should live in the present, bla bla bla, but I never really have thought about whether I do that well. I don't think I do really. I have recently noticed how easily I get bored. I love to move from one thing of entertainment to another, one movie, to a new game, to a new book, etc... But I think sometimes I forget to live in the moment. I wonder if living in the moment it living as if God was physically there. I find that the times I am content in the present are when I can feel the Lord there with me. I don't necessarily think it at the time, but I think it is true. Maybe, if I can remember that God is ALWAYS with me I can be more content being there. I mean who would want to skip one activity if as soon as they did so the Lord, disappeared. I know he doesn't but I want to be content knowing he is there. He is in the people around me, the conversation that is going on. He affects all these things, so I think maybe being in the present is recognizing THE presence.
To everyone who has read or commented on my blog, thanks! I love hearing all of your comments and knowing that you are reading about my life. I feel very loved by your support so thanks so much. I only hope you all know that I cherish you all as well. Peace