Written by MY WONDERFUL FRIEND

I climbed from the dry desert valley which life had ushered me to live.
I pushed my way to the crest of the hill which surrounded the barren valley I had grown to accept.
As I cleared the top of the hill I could see that it was very different over on the other side.
I was amazed at the beauty. Here too was a valley, but in this valley there were trees, green and full and the air was full of the fragrance of flowers.
I continued to just look and take in the beauty. The soft cool breeze which filled the air began to speak to me in a voice which was dripping in honey. The voice beckoned me to start walking down into this new found paradise.
As I walked I thought, this is what I've been missing and I didn't even know it. Oh this is where I belong. The beauty surrounded me full of color and life. There were fruit trees of all kinds which I dared not eat from if fear of realizing it was only a dream, oh how I wanted to taste these delicious fruits.
This valley had a crystal clear stream running through it which sang as it wound its way through the glad. Such beauty I had never seen. Oh how I longed to ease my parched body into its refreshing waters. I longed to tastes its cool, soft waters, but I dared not for fear that I would awake to find that it had only been a dream.
I thought why must I live in such a barron land when just over the hill I can be in paradise and why must I endure the hardships I had grown so accustomed to. I then thought I will live here from now on, not in that other place.
Oh, how my heart raced and my soul filled with joy at the thought of truly living in this heavenly place.
My joy was halted by a strange feeling which engulfed my body. This feeling of not belonging in such beauty, but belonging in the place from which I had come. Oh how the thought of leaving this place tore at my heart and soul.
I found myself heading back to the top of the hill from where I had come, not knowing why but realizing that I could survive in the other valley. I knew this because I had lived there so long and I was strong and could endure anything with Gods help and strength.
The paradise is where I want to be, but I fear to taste of its beauty or refresh myself in its beckoning waters because I may awake to find its only been a dream. I knew my desert valley, with all its harshness, would be a hard place to be, especially after my eyes had beheld such beauty. Still I left feeling blessed and knowing there would be other days ahead in which I could come back and explore this paradise and get to know its beauty even more.