The Butte

I live in an area of the Inland Northwest called the Palouse (Pah-loose) after a tribe of Native Americans that once lived here. It's a place with rolling hills and fertile farmland. Lots of farmland. People from the coast often lament the lack of trees and water when they visit, but as is so often said about the desert, the Palouse has a beauty all its own. It's just that, like the desert, it can be easily forgotten.

What prompted me to think about this was that my wife and I drove 10 miles out of town to Kamiak Butte for a bit of a hike. The north face of the butte is covered with pines, brush and a variety of plants with the neat affect of causing me to feel like I'm in the mountains instead of the rolling hills. As we hiked I was telling the Lord how much the mountains mean to me and how they minister to my soul. There's just something about the wilderness that I find soothing, like the ocean is for many of my coasty friends.

When we crested the butte I had a wonderful view over the Palouse and something came to mind about how there is only one other place like it in the world according to geologists. And that place is in France. That gave me reason to pause. Here I am in a place that has a beauty unlike anywhere else in the world (except a region in France) and I was grumbling about it not being the mountains.

The Spirit of God began to whisper to me. It isn't wrong to enjoy the mountains or for them to hold a special place in my life. But too often I overlook the wonder of where God has me at the moment. Perhaps I need to find the joy of where I am?

But where I live is where my struggles live as well. That's one of the reasons the mountains are so refreshing. When I'm in the mountains I leave those struggles behind. When I'm skiing or camping I don't think about the financial pressures or the people that get under my skin. It's truly a get away. But a "get away" becomes a "return from" at some point and that's when I can struggle.

What I came away with from my encounter with the Lord on the butte is that here on the Palouse there really is much to enjoy. An amazing variety of shades of green in the spring. The golden hues of grain in the summer. The brilliant colors of fall and the wonder of a fresh snowfall in winter. I just need to take a moment and look.

The same is true for my life in general. Yes, there are difficult people, but I also have a lot of wonderful people in my life. Yes, I need to take out the garbage, but the garbage indicates that God is still providing. I just need to take a moment and look.