Years ago my brother met me in Cape Town for a visit to South Africa we’ll never forget.
We zoomed all around Cape Town and the Western Cape enjoying beautiful scenery, amazing people, yummy food and incredibly lovely wine.
One memorable day in Hermanus we saw over 30 whales!
We also had the opportunity to visit Groot Constantia, South Africa’s oldest winery (established 1685) and sample their lovely wine.
It’s an absolutely beautiful place, even on a cool rainy day.
In the parking lot we saw this duck wallowing in a mud puddle, even though beauty abounded all around.
Today I got to thinking, maybe we’re sometimes like this duck? Entrenched in mud, stuck. Making an occasional splash here and there, but with our beaks immersed in mud oblivious to the wonder of possibility around us.
We’re drinking mud puddle on the rocks when we could flap our way (just a few steps) to sip lovely wine.
Mud can be many things: stinkin’ thinkin’ that we’re just nothing nobodies, fears that trap us in mud because it’s what we know, failures that zap our try again momentum, or behavior and excess baggage we know has to go. Like, now!
“What we call despair is often only the painful eagerness of unfed hope.” George Elliot
Here’s the thing. In God’s eyes we are precious somebodies, worth something HUGE: Love, God’s love, the kind that helps us hope, helps us cope.
Why do we keep swallowing mud puddle on the rocks – “I’m not, I can’t deal with this, why bother trying” – instead of letting faith and God’s love feed our hope? Help us cope?
To accept the mud in our circumstances, but not wallow in it. To open ourselves to the wine of God’s love that’s here for us, in us, no matter how much mud we splatter. To look up from the mud and believe we are precious somebodies, valued and valuable.
We might flap around and falter a bit, but if we stop drinking mud puddle on the rocks and start savoring Love(ly) Wine we may find our way (with God’s help) through the mud into pastures green and fine.
“GOD lifted me out of the pit of despair, out of the mud and the mire. GOD set my feet on solid ground and steadied me as I walked along.” (Psalm 40:2)
grace, peace & mud puddle management
Virginia : )
“May the wind under your wings bear you where the sun sails and the moon walks.” J.R. R. Tolkien
Roses in the Rubble 
I LOVE thisâ¦.mud puddle management!! âº
[WmbgHealthFoundation_Logo_Stacked_Color]
Carol L. Sale, RN, MSN
President and CEO
Williamsburg Health Foundation
4801 Courthouse Street
Williamsburg, VA 23185
(O): 757-345-0912
Carol, sometimes our mud puddles are lots bigger than this one! Thank you for helping me navigate waves of possibilities… blessings & hugs! 💜🤗💜
🙂
💨😎💨
Yes, indeed! Looks like a lovely trip with your brother — often, siblings make for the best traveling buddies, don’t they?? Poor duck, stuck in that mud puddle — though I suspect he was happy as can be there, ha!
Debbie, my brother & I started taking trips together over 20 years ago. At one point when he stayed with me for 4 months in Bethlehem we visited Petra in Jordan, a truly amazing place! He also visited me twice in Africa -along with my sis, Cindy. Blessings! 🌟😎🌟
Thank you for sharing this beautiful reflection and photos of South Africa. I would love to visit it one day…I dream! Love and God’s blessing always dear Virginia! ❤ 🙂
Patty, South Africa – especially Cape Town- is incredibly beautiful. I was blessed to visit twice when I worked in Tanzania- once for Christmas holidays on a wine tour. There are many well established wineries with lovely wines, scenic opportunities, beaches & inspirational places like Robben Island to visit (something we will never forget!) Hope you can make it there one day! ☀️🌍🌟
That sounds so great! I’ll pray that one day I can visit South Africa ❤ Much love & blessings Virginia!
💐🌟🤗🌟💐
Beautiful!
Thank you, Cin – our visit to Robben Island is one we’ll never forget!! ☀️😎☀️
A lovely encouragement, thank you for sharing!
Thank you, Steph. Sometimes our mud puddles are lots larger than this one – we may have to paddle awhile before we reach the shores of lovely wine! 🍷😎🍷