A Visit to Neverland

I had decided to pay a visit to a dear friend of mine yesterday. She lives about an hour away. It was exactly what I needed to raise my spirit and renew my senses. It was as if all of nature was getting dressed in their Easter outfits and throwing on festive bonnets.

Assortments of wildflowers were in bloom along the highway. Golden poppies colored the sides of the hills and the valleys covered in lupines looked like lakes of purple water. Pockets of pink, purple and fuchia were splashed here and there like droplets fallen off the end of a giant paint brush. Even the scraggly old oak trees dressed up in a soft green for the occasion. Wild grasses-that in a few weeks would be dry and brown- moved gently to hushed song of the wind.

As I pulled off the main highway and headed into the hills the scenery began to change. The tips of the trees erupted with bright green as if they couldn't contain their excitement any longer about springtime. The creek gurgled along side the road and frogs croaked boastfully back and forth to each other.

Cattle of all sizes dotted the hillsides and gangly calves scooted back and forth across the road and a rabbit looked at me curiously from under the shadow of a bush. Not one of the creatures seemed in any hurry to get any where and their mood was contagious. By the time I reached my friends mountain home I was already feeling more upbeat and positive.

A felt like for a moment I was in another world. A slower paced world where it seemed if one would sit still for just a minute and listen they would hear the voice of God just as clearly they could hear the bullfrogs along the creek.

To be able to sit with my friend and catch up on life was good medicine. She showed me around her property and I met her menagerie of pets including a very vocal peacock that had claimed ownership of her patio and was as protective as any watchdog.

We had times of quiet and times of talking. We have been friends long enough that words are not necessary. Tears are allowed even expected at times. We don't try to fix each others problems we just offer each other a safe place to-be.

As I packed up to leave it was with some sadness. I would miss my friend. But the work God had been doing was becoming clear to me. It was one of those situations where you aware of something but you aren't quite ready to look it straight in the face. This was one of those times.

Sometimes having a quiet place to listen to your own hear or having a safe place to say things out loud can at times brings clarity to a troubled spirit.

Blessings,