Note to my readers: I am using a new email service, so please extend grace as I figure out spacing, fonts and formats. I also recently had my website redone. My new website is lynnehartkeauthor.com. Feel free to check it out!

______________________________

Recently, Kevin and I visited Natural Bridges National Monument in Utah, a destination we didn’t know existed until we saw a sign along the highway when we were on the way from here to there.

Sometimes unplanned adventures make the best memories.

Natural Bridges National Monument is home to three natural bridges: Owachomo, Kachina, and Sipapu. Sipapu is a Hopi word meaning “place of emergence.” The largest bridge—Sipapu—is 220 feet high and spans a length of 268 feet.

As a writer, I felt strongly that God was speaking something to me under those bridges, but I wasn’t sure what it was.

I waited, holding space for the Spirit of God to speak to me. I didn’t know then, that soon, a war would break out in the Middle East.

While listening to news reports of the region, a reporter interviewed a grown son whose mother had been killed in the war. His mother had believed in peace and had spent much of her life involved in the peace process between the different factions. And had died. In the early days of the war. The grieving son ended the interview with these words, “My mother wasted her life.”

Have you ever said that about your life? Maybe you haven’t said you wasted your life, but have you felt like giving up on something you have believed and prayed for? Are you in a space of wondering if all you hoped for will ever become a reality? I want to encourage your heart today. When you stand and believe with Jesus for what you do not yet see, your life is not wasted.

Wars. Conflicts. Relationship struggles. Unrealized dreams.

Sometimes we stand in a huge chasm and can’t see beyond the walls enclosing us.

Last month I spoke at a women’s event. For one of the sessions, the women wrote down prayer requests and burdens they carried that were weighing them down. Many wrote about concerns for children and grandchildren.

Many had lost hope in praying the prayer, “Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”

At Natural Bridges National Monument, Kevin and I could have stayed with our feet firmly planted at the scenic overlooks. Instead, we stepped over the canyon rim to hike down to the bottom. Once there, we were in the rare position of seeing both sides of the chasm joined together by the bridges above us. We navigated over slickrock, balanced on rock-hewn steps, and descended around treacherous spaces—not unlike life itself with its difficult seasons.

Looking now at the photos, I realize we were not just standing in a canyon walled in with layers of Cedar Mesa Sandstone. No.

God was giving me a picture of what it means to hold onto hope, to stand in the gap, believing for what we do not yet see.

Because in that canyon, when we looked up, we could see the joining of both sides. Not just the joining of two sides of a canyon with a rock bridge, but much more. The joining of what is to what will someday be.

This month I invite you to do some slow looking, carry a verse in your soul’s backpack, and participate in a Christmas magazine giveaway!!

Welcome to Wonder*FULL November.

INVITATION 1: SLOW LOOKING

Shari Tishman encourages “slow looking,” the practice of training our eyes to see the world around us. Similar in concept to “slow tourism,” people are encouraged to not rush about trying to see everything (an impossibility), but to look deeper. To pause. To wonder.

At Natural Bridges National Monument, under the impressive rock formations carved by the relentless force of water, we encountered beauty. At one overlook, practicing the concept of “slow looking,” I found my eyes drawn to the purple asters at my feet and penned thoughts in my journal.

The desert

is not a habitation for those

who name it

godforsaken

as they pass through

on the way to easy water.

The desert

is home

for placemakers

whose eyes see

beauty

framed in barrenness.

Take time for your own “slow looking.”

INVITATION 2

A Verse to Carry in Your Soul’s Backpack

INVITATION 3:

A Giveaway and Local Classes

(Congrats to Heather K for winning last month’s free book.)

This month’s book is a collection of Christmas stories from Guideposts publications. The annual collection is one of their most popular magazines each year. (No surprise, because…Christmas!) I have a short, true story of when our newborn daughter played baby Jesus in a Christmas production. Let’s just say she didn’t act very meek and mild. She acted, well, like a baby.

You can purchase your own copy here.

Click on the link below and send me a short email saying you want a chance to win a free copy! I will choose a random winner on Nov 10.

LOCAL CLASSES

On Nov 11, I am teaching a Christmas poetry class using a traditional prayer form—the collect—as the model.

The class is free, but you need to register. Sign up here.

For information on Legacy Story Circle that begins in January and a monthly accountability writing group, go here.

_________________________

Photo Credits: Unless indicated, all photos are taken by Lynne Hartke. Natural Bridge National Monument photos are taken by Lynne or Kevin Hartke. Look for each of us under the bridges. The spans were huge! Hoary aster at Natural Bridges. Our autumn-colored Mollie camouflaged in rusty leaves. Oak leaves at sunrise at Mormon Lake, Arizona.