Have you ever come across something so grand in its design you had to stop and stare? That’s what these mountains could make anyone do. Their strength is evident in their size, spread, and the winding road I had to take to reach the shooting point of this photo. Yet, there is something to be said for the stream that makes its way through this valley of giants. It isn’t overly grand, it doesn’t burst into a room and declare its glory, it just shows up and keeps going. Its strength comes from the steady rhythm of its flowing waters, the way it chooses its path and keeps its course even when surrounded on all sides by things much bigger in size. Not only that, but its waters are what allow the bright green grass along its sides to thrive and grow and the animals that I imagine frequent here to live abundant lives.

When I look at this photo I see two of nature’s great contrasts meeting together, one needing the other. The valley of the mountains making way for the stream that keeps slipping through, and the stream feeding life back into those big beautiful peaks.

How many times does our own true strength show up the same as this stream? In the rhythms of our daily lives that we maintain even when obstacles and pressures rise up around us? Yes, we have our grand mountain moments that display us at our best, but in the end it is the ability to push onward, choose a path, and be brave enough to travel it day in and day out that demonstrates the very strength that makes us who we are to be. It feeds us and helps us to experience with appreciation the bigger moments of glory.

Perhaps you are in a place right now of being the stream, of winding down a path that doesn’t draw immediate attention. If so, I would encourage you to lean into that experience, keep carving and moving. It is often these little moments that when we pan out and look down on our lives strike real beauty among the things that first seem most important. A viewer may stop at this photo for the mountains, but they will stay for the stream.