Taking Flight

It has been hot in Kansas City. Really, really hot. And humid. As it should be, I suppose in the summer months out here in the middle of the country. But Monday ... Monday was gorgeous. Blue skies. Cooler temps. Low humidity. Light breeze. A perfect day weatherwise. Those kinds of days don't come along very often in July in Kansas, so when they do, us Great Plains dwellers relish them in a big way. We do yard work and don't feel like we will faint. We go for long walks and don't carry five gallons of water with us. We grill out and don't marinate the meat with the sweat dripping from our brows. We lay in our hammocks under a tree and don't wish it would rain to cool us off.

Several years ago, my children gave me a hammock stand and a rope hammock for Mother's Day. Funny thing is that the kiddos used that hammock far more than I did when they still lived under my roof ... maybe I just had more to get accomplished in a day back then and didn't have time to lounge around in the hammock. At any rate, eventually the rope hammock deteriorated from the sun and rain, and I bought another one. I always thought the rope hammock was uncomfortable, so when I spied a padded cloth one on sale for one-fourth of its original price, I bought it. I've had it for a few years now, and it's still in great shape. It's big enough that two people can fit into it easily, and it sits under a large tree in my back yard. I've spent more time in the hammock this year than I ever have, perhaps because I'm home more than I've ever been before. Guess I shouldn't be surprised that having an inactive social life translates into more hammock time.

After three hours of yard work Monday morning and enjoying some delicious burgers and veggies off the grill for lunch, my friend said she needed a nap and went upstairs to snooze for a bit. I grabbed my laptop, my pillow and my hounds, and headed out to the hammock to read for a while, answer some emails and pen a blog. I had no more than settled into the soft, swaying, suspended bed until I was joined by Ollie and Julie, both of them snuggling in close to me and promptly going to sleep. Deciding that the hounds and my friend had the right idea about napping, I put my laptop and my book down and gazed at the clear blue sky above me through the branches of the tree. Just as my eyes began to grow heavy, I saw something against the blueness that caught my attention. Floating effortlessly along above me were two large birds ... hawks, I think (remember, I'm not much of a bird person, so I'm not certain).

I'm not sure how long the large winged creatures circled and floated and soared on the wind, and I'm not sure how long I laid in my hammock weeping as I watched them. I couldn't help but wonder if they were part of the hawk family that I and so many others have been watching on the walking path. I couldn't help but wonder if they were the parent birds out for an afternoon of flight together or if they were the youngsters spreading their wings and flying on their own. I couldn't help but think about my own three children who are flying on their own now. I couldn't help but think about how often I want to take flight and soar on the wind once again.

Give me wings to fly again, Lord ... help me to take flight, to walk in faith, to serve in love ... give me wings, Lord ... give me wings.