Joy Dare: October 16, 2021 - 3 GIFTS BURNING

While attending college, we headed to the beach often for day trips, some lasting long into the night. Those were my favorite ones because the guys would build a campfire and keep it burning for hours. We would gather around it in a 20-foot circle. The evening would be spent with people sharing devotional thoughts, reading or reciting Scripture, or praying. We spent the majority of the time singing together, usually acapella. This is a memory I hold close to my heart and pull out for special occasions to reflect on. I'd kind of forgotten about it lately, but 10-20 college peers singing around a burning campfire is an experience I am grateful to get to keep as a memory. I can still recall some of their faces with the campfire glow on them.

We usually hear the term, "burning bridges" used in a negative manner to reflect someone who stormed off of a job or did something else that lent itself to a relationship they could never return to. I had a conversation today about moving on from a situation that didn't end smoothly. No bridges were burned, but communication ceased. As I thought about this writing topic today, it struck me that maybe we need to start burning some bridges in our lives intentionally, so we cannot return to people or places we shouldn't go back to. If the bridge is there, we may turn around and seek out what was familiar, easy, or safe even if it wasn't good for us. I was so grateful for today's conversation and the idea that came to me about burning the old connections if we need to. I felt so much peace with this and I'm thankful for this idea.

There was a time when I was much younger that I could have been described as someone who was burning the candle at both ends. I'm reminded to be thankful for a couple of things here. To begin with, I am super grateful I didn't do that for so long that I put my health or life in jeopardy. Moreso, I appreciate the life lesson from it, and changed so that I strive to find balance now.