The Grand Canyon

I spent a summer living in Arizona, worshiping on the edge of the magnificent Grand Canyon, literally at the feet of one of God’s most amazing and miraculous creations. I’ve been thinking about that summer, as it was this time, almost 3 years ago that I found myself preparing to be led on this truly amazing and fantastic journey. That was the most life-altering, mind-boggling, phenomenal summer of my life. I was thinking about that summer, and how amazing it was and what wonderful people I met and how grateful I am that God put me in that place at that time. I was looking through the pictures that I have of my summer there, and my return to the Canyon about eighteen months later and tears came to my eyes at the beauty of what we experienced. It was almost surreal. The Canyon has a splendor that is truly unique to the layers of rock and sediment: its something that cannot be duplicated and photographs do no justice to what the deep valley and catechisms actually look like. The Canyon road has a smell all its own; the smell of clean and unfiltered air, of dirt mixed with rock and stone, of God breathing His life into the wildlife and plant life that are indigenous to the area. Driving along the road, through Valle and into Tusayeon, through the wide gates that signify the entrance into the National Park, there is a sense of heightened anticipation, yes, but there is a feeling of coming home. The Canyon will always be “home” in a way that Phenix City can never be. The Canyon is Desert View, sunsets, Emilie and Sarah and Mark. The Canyon is purity and laughter (at ourselves, at the tourists, at the canyon itself). The Canyon… most of all the Canyon is ACMNP, the epitome of what my purpose was in this life for this specific and over-all-too-fast moment in time. My glorious friends, the family that I needed to survive while away from my “real” family; the co-workers who took care of two girls from the East and watched out for us; standing strong in the face of death and being in the right place at the right time. The Canyon, in its magnificent glory, brings tears to my eyes when I look upon the pictures, when I remember what that summer brought to my life, how much my life was altered by this experience. It is simply amazing in its grandeur and I am so blessed to have been able to live here on the edge of the world.