Healing Waters

a recap of 2023 in 365 words

A view of the Huguenot Bridge from the banks of the James River on a recent morning walk.

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Every day I cross a bridge. My eyes feast on the skies and the trees that frame the James River as I travel over its waters; they gurgle or churn depending on recent weather or the location in the river. It’s seen violence, turmoil, and upheaval throughout the years as it ambled and wound its way from the Appalachian Mountains of Virginia through Richmond and on into the Chesapeake Bay.

Richmond, our city, is divided in half by this ancient river. To live on the Southside of the river implies a different sort of life from one lived in the Northside. In March, our family crossed south over the Powhite Parkway Bridge with hope and trepidation to our new home in the hills. When we departed the Northside we left so much more than just our beloved little home and our neighborhood filled with six years of memories. We forged our way across the James seeking sanctuary from a place we used to love—fleeing a church we used to call home. 

Our church represented a diverse, loving community of followers of Jesus intertwined in all aspects of life. The tapestry we’d woven together was special; each piece was painstakingly created yet joyful and vibrant. However, the threads began to unravel in 2020 in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Traumatic and destructive patterns emerged when the world shut down, patterns that had been there all along. The place we loved and sought solace in fell apart; we realized that we had been sacrificed in pursuit of a dream. Our hearts and minds were starved and crushed in the name of love.

Broken and limping, we arrived at our new home across the river on a sunny Spring day; the azalea bushes flashed shades of purple and pink throughout our yard. Even in sadness the sight of such riches resurrected hope in my chest. Maybe, just maybe, the abundance of peonies and rhododendrons was a promise of what’s to come—goodness created just for us. Now, each time I cross a bridge over the James, I hear a song of renewal and cleansing in its waters and my fragile, healing heart hums with eager anticipation.

This post is part of a blog hop with Exhale—an online community of women pursuing creativity alongside motherhood, led by the writing team behind Coffee + Crumbs. Click here to view the next post in the series "365 Words".