Journeys of the Heart

Sounds melodramatic, doesn't it?

I went on Saturday for a drive to have some alone time with God. I drove up through Wrightwood. I had never been before, which seems odd as I've lived in this place over 30 years and they're just the mountain next door. Wrightwood itself wasn't too spectacular (those of you in the know, think Running Springs but without the charm), and there was a fair amount of traffic headed for the Mountain High ski resort. However, just up the highway the valley opens out to present spectacular views—Phelan and the Mojave dim and distant to the north, the great valleys of the San Gabriels to the south. The highway ends not far past the ski resort, as most of it fell off the mountain during the heavy rains of a few years ago. However, I did find the spots where the Pacific Crest Trail crosses the highway, and walked along a bit from here to find a spot from which to take in all this grandeur. (If you zoom in on the map, you'll see a forest road leading to the right on the photo, NF-3N06; just above it a dirt trail leads up the crest of the hill. That's the PCT; follow it along to the first large tree—that's what I was sitting under.) I toted along my bible, a truck blanket, and the green brimmed beanie I got for Christmas (which Caleb has dubbed my "boo-boo hat" because of the small red cross logo). I sat under a spreading pine, the wind chorusing through the branches and shaking off large chunks of ice to rain down into the scree pile at my feet. It was a good time of prayer and thinking, but didn't clear up any of my current confusion. An issue upon which I need to meditate and with which I need to wrestle further.

On Friday, an appraiser came to look at our house, so it was a day filled with frantic cleaning and repair. It's always a bit nerve-wracking to have someone come in and judge your home; now we just have the wait to find out what value he sets, which in turn will determine how our current refinancing venture will go and what our budget looks like for the future. The good news is, if this goes through (Lord willing), we'll pay off all our credit card debt and our car loon in one swell foop (that last reference was for you, Slater).

Otherwise, only grading lies ahead. Endlessly. Forever and ever...

Well, not really. But it seems that way.