Indian Lake

This week Alex and I are visiting his family at Indian Lake, in Vicksburg, Michigan, where he has summered nearly every year of his life.

My early memories of Indian Lake do not involve Alex. They include grueling 3-a-day soccer practices and sweaty shin guards. During college, our soccer camp was always held somewhere else because of logistical reasons. Our coach had connections here and thus, the Olivet Nazarene University women’s soccer team spent a week every August training in the muggy Michigan sun.

Happily, I am working through those negative associations, and I find myself growing fond of Indian Lake.

One of the best things about Indian Lake is unlimited free time. There is limited cell phone service, limited amenities, and limited contact with people. So we spend our days without a clock, swimming (and in my case training), reading and writing, playing games, and lounging. It is quite relaxing.

Yesterday, I took some of that free time as an opportunity to ride my bike through the countryside adjacent to Indian Lake. Although I was peddling pretty hard, I savored the view, the many miles of new scenery. I beheld big red barns, beautiful green fields, and dense woods overhanging the roads.

I definitely did not appreciate this beauty in college, as we ran those same roads at 6 AM, or even five years ago, as we drove from Kansas City to spend the weekend.

What has changed? Why do I now appreciate corn fields and tunnels of trees and Indian Lake? Is it five or ten years of age? Is it maturation? Is it new experiences? Is it spiritual growth?

What is change and what does it mean to move forward in this life?

(Questions I am happy to leave unanswered at this point.)