No TRESPASSING! (Lisa)

Picture this… a broken wooden split rail fence leaving a hole just big enough for a kid to crawl through, a no trespassing sign and just on the other side an inviting multitiered stream in a dappled shady wood. And finally, picture a young boy’s bike thrown down in haste just on this side of the fence.

That was the story that laid before me on my walk this time last year. I had no camera to capture it, but the story stayed with me. I am reminded of it each day when I pass by the long since mended fence. I whisper, “Jesus, I am listening. Speak to me.” I longed to hear the deeper story.

I remember that adventurous, slightly ornery little boy in me, when I was a girl who lived in the woods and streams searching for salamanders and making mud clay bowls, finding shiny rocks and playing out Robinson Crusoe tales. I still find more solace in woods and streams than anywhere else in the world.

The simplicity of who God is – it is all right there in nature. The rules of engagement with it, with Him, are simple. Just be and encounter it, encounter Him. Just listen. Smell. Look. Feel. Say nothing. He is there on the other side of that fence.

This side of the fence: sidewalks, manicured lawns, stop signs, rules of engagement.

That side of the fence: wild and untamed, no stop signs, no rules of engagement, just earth, dirt, green, water, rock, salamanders and all the love of His creation … and you, the wild untamed you. He is waiting for you to sit with Him. This Easter week, I hope you trespass on Him!

Happy Easter everyone!

Lisa, Pat and Claire in spirit