View from the Natural Bridge.
Driving in Kentucky is dangerous for me. Not because people don’t follow traffic laws (like in Italy: It’s terrifying to cross the street in Rome); not because there are multitudes of animals crossing the road (like in Michigan: “Deer, bear and wolf crossing here all day every day”); but because of one thing: rock.
Rising high above the roads, cliffs of multi-colored stone loom as cars whizz by. Tall hills (when are they actually considered mountains?) dotted with green punctuate the land as the paved asphalt highways speed around them. As I drive in Kentucky, my eyes are glued to the rock and the picturesque scenes it makes. I love the roadside cliffs and the wild-looking landscape. When I drive, my eyes are probably on the surrounding land 65 percent of the time, which is not really a safe ratio. But I can’t help it: I’m addicted to the Kentucky rock.
In honor of my addiction, I decided to visit Natural Bridge Resort State Park, which is famous for – you guessed it – a natural rock bridge.
The Natural Bridge.
Parking, I began my mile hike to this bridge, along with a hoard of other people (I had no idea it was such a destination). The climb was steep, but the landscape was stunning (which I was thankful for, because whenever I felt like I couldn’t go on, I could stop to take a photo while getting in a much needed reprieve from the climb), and when I finally reached the top, hiking up a narrow staircase and “natural” stone steps, the view from the top of the bridge and other adjoining cliffs was absolutely stunning. I got to sit and each lunch while overlooking hills and rock formations and green expanses that rolled in a beautiful way. It was a stunning day, full of more hiking, more rocks and a shake from Steak ‘n Shake.
Overall, I was reminded of a very important lesson that I thought I had already been taught (but obviously not ingrained).
Beauty in the sky.
For so long, I have wanted to travel. I often look at how to fly to Peru or Ireland, how to hike the Inca Trail or explore the Dingle Peninsula. I want to visit India and temples in mountains, see the Pyramids in Egypt and find lions on a safari, go to Hobbiton in New Zealand and swim in the Great Barrier reef. There are so many things I want to do and see, not including the multiple tiny villages I have yet to explore in England.
But God pulled me up short on Saturday as I stood overlooking the wonders of Kentucky. Here I am, in one of the largest countries on earth, full of varying landscapes and tiny towns and places to explore, and yet I am longing to go off to some foreign place when I have neither the time nor money to do so. Why can’t I have adventures here in America, in Kentucky, in Louisville for the time being? Why can’t I be content to explore the East Coast, visit New Orleans or ride along Route 66 while I am here in the U.S.?
Brillant.
God reminded me to be content where I am. I so often long for jetting off to amazing places and moving to England, overlooking the beauty of where I have been placed. There is as much to see within a two hour radius of driving my car as an eight hour plane ride (and driving costs a tiny bit less). While I work my way up in the journalism world, and while I pay off my student loans, and while God has me in America, I must be content where I am.
Life with the Lord is an adventure. But I can’t see that with these blinders on. Atop the cliffs this weekend, He helped to remove these blinders. And although I’ll probably put them right back on, I know God will be there, yanking them from my face.
He is molding me into who I am and who I will be. My goal this week is to be content. To find adventures where I am at. And to realize the blessing of being where I am, instead of where I only think I want to be. Because where I am is where God wants me. Surely, that is the best thing of all.
Tall cliffs.
Becoming 