Where Hope Returns

Building the Sacred Strides Healing website has been a journey in itself. Believe me, there have been moments of excitement, frustration, second-guessing, and a whole lot of learning along the way.

What surprised me most, though, was realizing how much meaning was tucked inside the photos I chose for each section.

I thought it might be nice to share some of the stories behind them, beginning with the rainbow photo.

When I first looked at it, I remember thinking, “My goodness… this is life.”

Hope still shows up.

A muddy pasture after days of rain. Storm clouds still hanging in the sky. A horse quietly grazing in the distance. And somehow, right in the middle of it all, sunlight breaking through and a rainbow stretching across the horizon.

Truthfully, I think rainbows have always mesmerized me.

As a child, I used to run through the backyard trying to find the end of them and the pot of gold. And years later, as a teenager in a canoe with my best friend on a lake in Canada, I remember getting completely lost staring at a massive rainbow stretching across the stormy sky while the waves around us started rocking.

At one point she finally laughed and told me, “Quit staring at the rainbow and paddle.”

And honestly? That memory still makes me smile.

Maybe that’s why this photo speaks to me so deeply. It reminds me that even in stormy seasons, beauty still has a way of finding us.

Hope still shows up.

Maybe healing is simply learning to notice the light again, even while standing in the mud puddles of life.

One sacred stride at a time.

Teresa R. Hower