This week on our series, What I’m Pondering, Becca Bahl, The Well’s digital media director, ponders what she has found during this time of social distancing and change. To watch Becca’s 60-second video associated with this post – give us a follow on Instagram, Facebook, or YouTube.
Over the last few weeks, there has been a lot of talk about what we are missing out on and what we are looking forward to. I will admit my first few weeks of isolation were rough. I was frustrated with all that was going on and my life being in upheaval. I take more pride in routine and plans than I care to admit.
There were days I really wondered where God was in all of this. On a particularly tough day, I picked up a book I had been slowly working through during Adoration: Interior Freedom by Fr. Jacques Phillipe. I read a section entitled “Badness isn’t all bad: The positive side of difficulties.” The title alone was enough to remind me to stop looking inward and look up.
Fr. Phillipe went on to say, “The first advantage is that they {difficulties} prevent us from assuming exclusive ownership of our lives and our time. They prevent us from shutting ourselves up inside our programs, our plans, our wisdom…The worst thing that could happen would be for everything to go exactly as we wanted it, for that would be the end of any growth.”
That was exactly what I was doing – shutting myself up in my own agenda and digging my heals in. I began to ponder what God was trying to show me in all of this and to be open to his call. Some days it was easier to see than others.
Last week, on a particularly rough day, I escaped the only way I knew how 
and took a long walk down a newly discovered trail near our house. As I followed this new trail, I was admiring areas of the city I did not know existed. I began to look around and appreciate all the beauty before me. Mushrooms growing on trees, small waterfalls, purple blooms and a fresh, new world. I thought about how just weeks ago I was so excited for the trees to begin to bloom and for the world to turn to green. As I stopped to take a picture of a tree in bloom that I had admired on my walks, it hit me – Spring was here and I had watched it all happen. Instead of being busy with baseball and end of the year school events, I had been able to watch the world wake up outside my window and on these rejuvenating walks. I had witnessed spring in all its beauty. I would not have had that experience if I was still following my same old path of life. Yes, the pandemic has been stressful and difficult at times, but there has also been beauty and joy in it! That is what I have found. Please ponder with me, what have you found during this time of difficulty (and growth)?