Once when I was a biddy (okay I was in college...not too much of a biddy) made up a little song (a diddy really). Here's my diddy as a biddy. Okay, okay no further silly introductions! The song went like this:
When you're living in the
land of foggy foggy dew
Then you haven't a clue
Haven't a clue...
Haven't a clue
what to do do do do!!!!
Oh you haven't a clue
what to do!
It's really rather a silly and repetitive song but I never claimed to be a great composer and I know that God didn't necessarily bless me with great musical talent. It was a fun little song birthed from my indecisive tendencies and the fogginess that often descended over the Grace College campus. It's stuck with me through the years and I've always intended to record it on my first cd called "Carrie-oke" but unfortunately my singing career never got off. Bummer... Recently it all came back to me in a fog...errr....on a clear day or something like that.
My missionary team here in Peru was off on wild adventures in the southern part of Peru (really it was just a team retreat) and several of us decided to stay longer and do touristy things. One of the touristy things was visiting the Colca Canyon which is supposed to be the deepest in the world. You can imagine our excitement as we piled into the car one morning in order to go to the canyon look-outs to see the condors swooping by our heads.
There was one little problem: fog.
It was actually a very large problem as a hugmungous quantity of fog filled the canyon. It was really thick like the type they say you can eat with a soup like pea soup (which in my opinion is a very silly saying because fog like pea soup would be green! and it's not green now is it?). Anywho, we passed buses and carloads of disappointed tourists returning from the lookouts who declared: "Nothing to see...nothing to see!!" Ah yes the land was surely the land of foggy foggy dew that day.
We braved on and made it to the lookout where all we could see over the edge was.... dum...dum...dum! FOG!!! Yes you guessed it dear reader (you are so smart! I knew you'd figure it out). We tried going to several of the lookout spots and staring intensely into the misty white and having curiosity burn in our hearts. What was down there? What did the canyon look like? Would the clouds clear?? We had no way of knowing what would happen with the fog but there it was and there it stayed as we hoped for holes and glimpses of what was below.
With sad hearts we climbed back in the car knowing that our nearly 2 hour car ride had been wasted. We were on our way back when someone chanced to look back. Could it be???!!!! Was that a clear spot over there? Were the clouds lifting??? Sure enough the thick fog was being rolled back like a curtain and the canyon we had so wanted to see was being exposed like the first act of a majestic play! Woohoo! We climbed down the hill to the lookout area while others drove back to the parking lot. And as I was climbing the hill to where the others were we saw it.
A condor swooping around...soaring in the area and coming so close that we could see it's black and white wings and the royal collar around its neck. It was majestic! It was amazing! And it wasn't the last that we saw. Before we left that day we saw several of those huge birds swooping near. We stared down into the deep canyon with such excitement, exclaming over every rock. It was maybe not that impressive if you've seen the Grand Canyon or other wider and bigger canyons but to us who nearly missed seeing it at all, it was such a gorgeous sight.
I think I've been living in somewhat a season of fogginess where I've been tossed and confused by many things. I didn't understand what was the best and where things were going. I felt farther from God than I wanted to be and I seemed to just be sitting in that fog. But I believe that God is bringing me out of a foggy season into a season of majestic beauty. He wants me to sweep and soar like those condors and delight in His creation. I don't want to live in the land of foggy foggy dew any longer. I want to have a clue! I want to know what His whispers are and what He wants me to do.
Even if we staring into something that just looks foggy and white and we can't see anything beyond that, it's good to remember that yes the beautiful canyon is down there. It's beyond the fog and it's not moving. God's love, goodness and faithfulness are like that. Always there under the surface...steady and solid and not going anywhere. I don't want to just be convinced that the fog is all there is. The fog will clear and the faithfulness of the Lord will remain.
Amen Lord! Show us your beauty beneath the fog!!
