By Nicki Dechert Carlson
I’d like to introduce you to our river, “Guadalupe.”
Her beauty and sustenance drew the first settlers to this area … she, and the tall cypress trees that grew up, out, and around her. She has always been life-giving.
She has taught generations of Hill Country natives and visitors how to swim, kayak, fish, and float. Fun and relaxation are two of her best qualities. She invites us to slow down, express gratitude to our Maker, and appreciate her allure.
She has seen countless picnics, campsites, proposals, baptisms, revivals, weddings, funerals, and formal camp gatherings and competitions. When life reaches a milestone around here, she is always there, an ever-true backdrop and witness.
It is her comfort we seek when we are sad and lonely, and her figure we look for as we enter our hometown. It is her voice that beckons us to come, sit, and think a while, and her cool water that refreshes our weary bodies and souls.
We grieve because she ripped our loved ones from our arms, laid waste to our homes and businesses, destroyed our communities, and left nothing but a muddy, debris-filled nightmare in her wake.
And yet … we will clean her up. We will clean her up as we’ve done before and will do again. Like an unruly toddler with a dirty diaper, we will bathe her, absolve her, and set her back on her right path.
We will remember to fear her as well as love her.
And one day, we will return to her and once again seek solace in her arms and on her banks … the same arms that took the lives we lament.
Why? Because she’s ours. Our river. She is as much a part of us as we are a part of her.
Expressively HIS ... 