Walking in the dark

When I was working at a camp in the states my little cabin used to be on the other side of a long wooden bridge. During the day it was a gorgeous bridge surrounded by forest and snuggled right in the middle of a beautiful covering of trees. If you were quiet enough you could quite often spot a deer or other small wildlife wandering underneath and around it. However at night it was like a completely different bridge. A lantern would sometimes be placed on a hook halfway along the bridge but if the lantern wasn’t there you were in complete darkness and could not see from one end of the bridge to the other. The same sounds which in the day were mesmerizing and tranquil at night time seemed discomforting and eerie.
　
Some people refused to walk over that bridge by themselves and to be honest I didn’t blame them. I always tried to play tough and pretend that bridge didn’t phase me but truth be told, if I didn’t have my torch or a lantern, I would get scared. It was when I was in complete darkness that I would start to freak out.
Usually all I needed to do to fix the problem was stop being lazy and go and get a lantern from the dinning hall, (which isn’t far from the bridge) or to wait for somebody to cross with me.

Lately I have realised that I have an issue with feeling like I need to be in control. I say that I believe in God and his plan for my life, the desires and dreams he has placed in my heart, but the moment I feel like something isn’t going according to plan, I start to worry.
For the first 4 weeks after the earthquake I was waiting to find out what was happening with my course and my job. I think for the first time, I truly learnt what it is to be patient and to trust. I had to believe that even though I felt like I was in the dark and had no idea what was going to happen, whether I would still have a job, or if my course would still go ahead, that it would all work out.
Now you may wonder how the bridge relates to what I’m talking about, but the analogy that comes with that story has been a big revelation for me.

Sometimes we get so caught up on thinking that to get somewhere, we have to go a certain way and take a certain amount of time to get there, that we often don’t realise, we are still walking that same route, starting at the same place and finishing at the same destination. It just might look a little different getting there.

One night I didn’t have a lantern with me, but I decided that I wasn’t going to let this bridge freak me out anymore. I confidently held my head up high and instead of running across it, calmly walked from one side to the other, praying in my head and believing that I would get to the other side ok.
I, of course, got to the other side of the bridge and came out of the situation feeling better about myself for not letting worry or fear take over me.Sometimes we spend so long worrying about the little things, fretting over them, losing sleep and moaning about them, instead of just dealing with the problem. Too often we give the problem priority instead of the solution.

Im slowly learning what it is to not need to feel in control and to be able let go.
What are the things in your life that you don’t like feeling in the dark about?

Because maybe sometimes we just need to be prepared to embrace the "darkness" and keep walking.


Katie D

 (the Bridge at camp)