angeles national forest

while we were in los angeles, we made a stop at the angeles national forest.  it is a long drive up and around and up and around.  to be honest, i was so exhausted the drive up, i fell asleep.  but not before i saw this
which left me speechless. 
 if you are a nashvillian, or alive, you have seen or been effected by the flood that recently happened.  i saw that, i saw standing water and the hopelessness that the water caused.
i have been to third world countries and seen the ravishes that poverty can create.  i have seen hungry naked babies with distended bellies.  i have seen and smelt raw sewage running through those naked babies streets.  and each one of them i wanted to take home with me, give them something warm to eat and rock them and hold them tight until they forgot about the hurt.
and some of those hopeless little ones, i got to see smile.  i got to see their parents eyes light up that someone was loving on their child and spending time.  
and that day as we were driving through the burnt angeles national park that fire had recently destroyed; for some reason those babies came to mind.  and the hopelessness that you could see in their parents faces and the hunger that was apparent.  they were starving and had nothing to give them.  they had lost hope.
but sometimes when you start to loose hope and want to let go of the rope.  you look up and you see life.  even in the midst of the worst storm, flood, fire.  life still happens.  and hope is renewed.
in the midst of all the burn, there was this ray of light.  fresh, new and bright.

we were just some young american teenagers whose parents said 'yes' we could go out of town without them for two weeks.  but to those children and their parents, we were hope.

and the life lessons that they taught me will always let me know that hope is there.  it might not be the first thing you see...but see it, you will.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Beautiful photos & comments.

Mary Beth said...

You have such a gift! Both your photography and writing, but more is the gift of love, compassion and...hope.

© Jessica Dukes of Morrison Lane. Powered by Donuts