Awhile ago, I had a day of travel to myself. It was a day I won't forget. I'm not sure why but I felt such a sense of freedom. I guess I was doing something that would have scared me in the past but had become something I enjoy. Having time by myself is something I've always needed and enjoyed, I just didn't realize traveling alone would be included in that.
My layover was in Chicago. I've never been there or even thought about it. The plane gently lowered over the city, giving me the perfect view. We skimmed the air over the skyscrapers, and dipped over the little towns of Illinois. The Great Lakes were overwhelming and I giggled to myself as a kid behind me buzzed about their size, because I felt the same way. The immensity of the world is always surprising to me. I can't imagine seeing it as a whole. The puzzle pieces I have seen touch every corner of my mind and I can't picture there being more, but there is. There's always so much more.
I found myself falling in love from a distance. I couldn't help but smile as we touched down. It was such a shocking feeling. Minutes before looking out the window I was absorbed in a book and was ready to stretch out my legs. I had no idea that I was about to be taken back, once again, by the beautiful world that God has created. My testimony of His love for us and His hand in my life expands all the time. When I least expect it, I'm touched and changed by the simple and significant moments of this wonderful life he has blessed me with. I sat by these two guys on the plane and their chatter felt so distance, muffled. I was absorbed in this private moment. It almost felt selfish not telling them about what was happening. And I smiled to myself about how such a brief, maybe even silly moment had touched me in such a way.
After experiencing this, I've recognized how I've fallen in love with multiple things from a distance throughout my life. Music, as the sound of a guitar hummed through the walls of my house growing up. Writing, as I watched Anne Shirley walk through fields reciting poems. Nauvoo, as I listened to my childhood best friend describe it me time and time again. Some things haven't been too far away, but just out of reach whether the reach has been time, ability, or travel.
I hope I'll get to walk the streets of Chicago someday. Maybe it will feel like the first time I wrote a song. The gap between me and music closed and my guitar and my words became my support. Maybe it will feel like going to Nauvoo after imagining it for years. Its golden sunlight and the sacrifice of the Saints soaked into each inch of the city will stick with me forever. I find myself falling in love with things from a distance all the time. Whether I get to collide with them or not, I'm grateful for the spark it ignites within me. There are sparks everywhere. God's blessings are everywhere. Let the unexpected capture you and just hold it. Let the little moments become significant and use their hope. There's so much to love even from no distance at all.
