Lately, on my hikes, I’ve been so inspired by all of the wildflowers.

Spring in the California Wine Country is just plain glorious! On my favorite hiking trail, there are so many things coming back to life — including bud-break on the freshly trimmed vines that are perfectly lined up like swaying brothers and sisters getting ready to dance in the heat of the sun.

Gosh, it’s gorgeous!

There was this one huge patch of wild flowers that I noticed two days ago that made me stop in my tracks because it was so pretty. Tiny white flowers mixed in with faint hues of blue and purple along with tall green stalks of grass that made it all look like I was walking near a dream.

But yesterday, when I passed by that happy patch of loveliness, it was gone!

It had been mowed under, and all that was left were these strange tracks that looked like the crop circle marks of a tractor.  When I took my ear buds out of my ears so I could concentrate, I heard the tractor growling up ahead. Then I watched it make a wide turn and start heading my way as it plowed under another mound of flowers that were growing between the vines.

I know I think too much, and in some ways, that makes me a huge sap. But it really did make me feel sad to watch that tractor munching up all of that beauty right before my very eyes. However, that scene did remind me of how temporary everything is in this life, and how seasons come and go very quickly. Those flowers served a purpose in bringing me some joy the day before, and now they are serving a new purpose of feeding the ground so the vines have the nutrients they will need to thrive in the heat of the summer.

I’ve never been shy about admitting that I’m in a twisty pit of wonder and a bit of struggle at the moment. And since I’m not hiding anything for those of you who read these posts, I feel like I’ve been in this state of my life for SO LONG now. It feels less like a season, and more like a never-ending cycle — but that’s simply not true. It really is a season, and nothing about it will last forever.

There is change up ahead because change is the only real constant in life.

There is always beauty to see in my life — I just have to open my eyes and look for it. And when I see it, I need to hold onto it with gratitude and faith. Then, when that beauty gets mowed down my some reality in my life, I have the choice to see it as a real bummer, or, I can see it as part of this life cycle that God is using to nourish my faith.

The hike I went on this morning felt like my favorite valley got a super tight haircut, and I really did miss seeing all the flowers swaying in the breeze. But I’m thankful I managed to live in one of the last moments when those flowers were in their peak.

Maybe the secret to enduring difficult times is always finding the moments in the mix that inspire true and worthy forms of thankfulness.