Confession...it has been so long since I've added anything to this website blog. Life has not gone quite according to planned. Priorities needed to shift for a little while and that's ok. The goal is to get back to sharing perspectives behind the images. A new series is set to be released soon as well.

I love this first view. It's a reminder of this journey. We could hear the falls before it was visible. We knew we were so close. Our first attempt did not lead us here however. We literally spent hours of wondering, no trails, no blazes, nothing but wilderness, creek, and I was with a group of strangers that I had just met. There was fear in the unknown. In that wondering however, we were able to see and appreciate things we would have missed out on had we hiked directly to the falls. I also was able to spend more time with a great group of people that I now consider friends.

My life lately has paralleled this little hike in so many ways. Things haven't gone according to planned but that is ok. I still have hope in the destination being incredible. I have been allowed to see glimpses such as this first photo that remind me I'm one step closer. Glimpses of beautiful, but it's still not the right perspective to really appreciate the fullness of beauty. I have to believe in the progress made one step at a time...we all need to believe in the ultimate goodness of difficult journeys. I know I have chosen to submit to the Lord as my guide even though sometimes I don't always follow well. I know He has promised a helper in "weakness". I know "all things work together for good" - Romans 8 is such a great read full of life direction, conviction, and hope.

As we continued in this journey, climbing down and over a few more rocky places, everything opened up and we were finally able to see the treasures we had been looking for. I will forever remember this little hike and the beauty of hidden treasures found in North Alabama. May you always remember to never give up in the wilderness and never yield to the doubts that can so easily entangle you along the way. "To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield" - Alfred Tennyson