My family walked out of the Refectory at Saint John’s University with happy hearts and full bellies.  We jumped at the sound of all you can eat after we arrived for family weekend.   After we filled our empty stomachs my brother, Kaleb, decided to take us on a nature walk during our afternoon to the campus’ chapel across the lake.  My sister and I weren’t very excited to walk six miles after eating all that food; nevertheless, our adventure began and my family was happy to spend a day together.

We walked off the clean grey sidewalk onto the beaten gravel path.  We were going on a walk to the chapel.

As we walked down to the lake, the air got colder.  There weren’t as many trees to protect us from the cold brisk wind blowing on our faces.  The trail wrapped around the big lake that eventually led up to the chapel.  I didn’t know where we were going, but I trusted that Kaleb would lead us to our final destination.  We took a family picture by the rippled blue lake and began to walk on the narrow trail leading to the chapel. 

Immediately, as we went into the woods, my jaw dropped in awe of nature’s beauty.  Once we walked under the canopy of trees, I felt like I was in a whole new world.  I was surrounded by tall trees filled with green, yellow, orange, and red leaves.  The branches billowed outward from the trees, filling the blue sky above us.  It was just early enough in the fall season that most of the leaves were still green, but many of them had started to change color. The red and yellow leaves especially caught my eye.  The colors of the leaves reminded me of a flashing stoplight.

Some of the leaves had already fallen off the trees and onto the ground.  I thought about the dead leaves that had already been disconnected from their own branch.  Like fallen leaves, we all have to move on or let go of certain things at times in our lives.  These changes may be difficult for us to get accustomed to at first, but we might be blessed with the results.  Sometimes, it is hard to accept change when we are uncertain about the outcome.  Like leaves, we go through many changes in our life.

Like most people, I have adapted to many changes in my life.  I know that there will be many more dramatic changes in my life as I get older.  Mandy Hale says, “Trust the wait.  Embrace the uncertainty.  Enjoy the beauty of becoming.  When nothing is certain, anything is possible.”  I like this quote because it reminds myself to trust God and wait because I know He has a plan for me.  Everything comes at the right time, I just have to learn to relax and be patient like the leaves waiting to fall off the branches.  Life is filled with constant changes that we have to balance.

The roots of the trees crossed the trail everywhere.  If I didn’t watch my step, I would trip over my own feet.  I heard my mom giggling behind me as I kept catching myself from falling over the bulging roots submerged from the ground.  I learned quickly to watch my step, but I couldn’t help myself from looking up at nature’s beauty surrounding me on all sides.

Nature took my attention away from my hurting stomach, and instead, I was focused on the path ahead of me.  I looked up.  A leaf wedged inside a piece of tree bark caught my attention.  The leaf was bright yellow with red speckles on the top.  It looked like someone had some bright red paint and splattered it on the yellow leaf.  It was beautiful and unique.  I thought it was crazy that the leaf fell on that particular part of the tree and it stayed there.  I wanted to take the leaf out and save it as a memory of the walk with my family, but my mom suggested that I leave it there so more people would have the opportunity to see the unique leaf.

We kept walking and my mind wandered into other places.

I realized that in one year I will be at college just like my brother.  I have many decisions to make in the next year.  I haven’t made a final decision where I want to attend college or what occupation I want to pursue.  My future can stress me out, but I know everything will fall into place in the end.  In one year, I hoped to be happy at college like my brother.

I was thankful to spend this time with my family.  When I am with my family, I want the time to slow down.  I don’t have much extra time to hang out with my family.  I am busy with school and sports, but soon my time with them will be limited.  My family supports me and helps me through changes in my life.  I don’t want to take them for granted because they are so special to me.  Around my family, I can truly be myself.  We might be separated from my brother this year, but it doesn’t seem like we have been a day apart when we are all together. 

We kept walking towards the chapel.   It seemed like our journey to the chapel was taking forever.  As we got close, I started running fast towards the chapel for fun.  I heard Kaleb and Kamree catching up to me.  I realized how much I miss spending time with him.  They passed me with smiles on their faces as we finally reached the chapel.  Once I approached the chapel, I stopped running to catch my breath.  We waited for our parents to catch up to us and we went inside together.

The chapel was a rusty red color.  It sat on a stone and concrete mixture that supported the chapel.  The chapel looked different than it did across the lake.  Outside, I saw five stained glass windows.  Four of them had multi-colored oval shaped designs.  On the front of the chapel there was a large circular stained glass window and there was a big yellow star on it.  The stained windows were colorful like the leaves on the trees.  I walked up the short stairway made of stone and joined my family to look inside.

There was no light inside the chapel.  The chapel was empty except for two chairs and the statue of Mary.  The empty space made the chapel look bigger than it actually was.  It looked different than I imagined it, but I liked the chapel because it was simple and beautiful.  The beaming sun shone through the stained glass windows into the small rectangular room. 

Kaleb insisted that we each print our names on the guest book because he said that they like to keep track of how many people walk to the chapel annually.  After I signed my name in the book, I sat down in one of the two black chairs.  I was tired from our walk, and my body was relieved to take a break. 

I looked up and saw the concrete statue of the Virgin Mary.  I could tell that she was pregnant with baby Jesus because her stomach was abnormally large.  There was also a stone on the wall behind the statue of Mary.  The slab of stone was completely filled with writing.  The blue calligraphy told a beautiful prayer about life.  My body relaxed as I read over the prayer and I prepared myself for our journey back to campus.

As we walked back, the scenery was just as breathtaking.  I noticed different parts of nature that I wasn’t aware of on the walk to the chapel.  The air smelled fresh like clean linen hanging on a clothesline, and the sun peeked down at me through the puffy white clouds.  The temperature was changing and the air got colder as the evening progressed. 

As I walked back from the chapel, I felt changed.  Originally, I wasn’t very fond of the long walk because I had an upset stomach and I was tired.  I trusted Kaleb and his judgement because he has visited the chapel multiple times.  As I embraced my family and the breathtaking scenery around me, I started to enjoy the walk more.  In my life, I have to learn to be more adaptive to change and adversity.  These changes may be difficult for my body to get accustomed to at first, but I know I have to place my trust in others.  In the end, I was blessed that I partook in such a wonderful journey with my family. 

I really enjoyed spending time with Kaleb and my family on our walk.  Our day sadly drew to an end as we approached the campus.  As I look back at the lake, I remember the family picture we captured.  I can’t wait until our next chapel walk together.