Blog: Lakeside happiness
Text: Liisa Lilvanen-Pelkonen
Translation: Sirkka-Liisa Leinonen
I had been hoping we could take time in the early spring to visit my father’s home, an old farm called Lilvasaho at Juupajoki. We have usually gone there every summer, recently even more often. No-one lives there year-round, but people go there in the summer for vacation. The place is so beautiful and peaceful, and we enjoy doing odd chores while there.
This time we did not do any chores, as we went on a Sunday, our 6th wedding anniversary. We intended to find a better path from the farm to Lilvasjärvi lake. I had gone to the lake twice in my life, using a terribly overgrown road that crossed a thick spruce forest and deep gullies. We now decided to make bee line for the lake.
The place was full of lovely shades of light green, the fragrance of blooming bird cherry trees and birdsong. I could not think of anything better than hiking in the forest with my dear husband, looking for the best way to get to the lake, crossing crevices and avoiding moss-covered hollows. We saw decaying trees that had fallen down long ago, ancient spruce trees with beard lichen, gurgling brooks, and finally, the blue sheen of the lake between the trees. The air was pervaded by the smell of bogs covered by faintly pink bog rosemary.
Lilvasjärvi is a small lake surrounded by marshland that will gradually engulf the lake. There is a deep rocky face on one side, a forest-covered slope on another, and wetlands on the third. We did not explore the remaining part of the lake shore.
That Sunday was probably the happiest day of my spring. I still cannot help wondering how the Heavenly Father helped me and my husband find each other. How great it is to have someone who wants to join me for a trek through a swamp in search of a small lake. And wants to eat a packed lunch surrounded by bird cherry trees and lilies-of-the-valley. And finds happiness in the clear water of a forest brook.
I sometimes think back to the time when I was single. I often thought I could never find a man who would be similar enough to me and would understand my special quirks. Or that all of the best men had already found a spouse. Or that I should probably not even dream about someone I found attractive because that man would likely find me completely uninteresting.
I admit I even thought that there must be something wrong with the men who did not have a wife. Or else that there was something wrong with me and no-one would ever even find me appealing because I never had anything interesting to say in a bigger group. And yet, God allowed out paths to cross in a life situation where we both needed a companion.
On our way back from the lake we followed paths made by animals, until the soft and wet bog forced us to seek higher ground. I felt bubbly with happiness. We had a place where we could come to enjoy the sights and sounds of nature without any other people within a radius of a kilometer or more.
– Katso, neitsyt tulee raskaaksi ja synnyttää pojan, ja hänelle annetaan nimeksi Immanuel – se merkitsee: Jumala on meidän kanssamme. Matt. 1:23
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