During my morning excursion to the creek, I took off walking on the dry gravel road and listened to it crunch beneath my feet. Though it was very early I didn’t expect to see any deer while my feet were being so noisy, but that was okay because my goal was to have a nice powerwalk to elevate my heartrate.
Turning onto the dirt road, I came to the middle of my journey where I could turn and trek through a meadow toward my house, but the weeds and tall grasses suggests snakes and I don’t go through there until it is closer to winter. Besides, I was heading to the creek for my time with God.
Up ahead I saw a small mound that looked like a horse dropped a souvenir, but as I came upon it, it was darker than what a horse would do and it was also hairy. I guessed coyotes had marked the path. This interests me because, like my greyhounds, I am curious to learn of a new story as I walk. I don’t have to get on all fours and stick my nose to the ground, but what I observe with my eyes tells me quite a bit.
I continued on and I passed a small cornfield saturated in water from the night’s rain. I then heard the sweet echoing sound of the nearby creek up ahead. I was almost there. While working up a sweat from walking, it was refreshing to hear the sound of water rising off the rocks the closer I came to its happy melody.
I have been to this creek many times, but today was the first time I realized something different about my favorite place.
As I leapt across the flowing waters in the shallowest areas, I made it to my rock that I like to sit on. The water was a little higher this morning so I considered sitting on a higher rock near the other side of the creek, but when I saw the snake skin lying across it I decided my rock would be just fine.
As I sat on my rock, I looked at the trickling stream cascading over the flat pieces of rock that spawned mini waterfalls in different places. I have watched the water dancing over the rocks many times, but for the first time realized the rocks …were not rocks at all.
They were broken pieces of concrete and I now understood why there were rusted iron rods bent around a few of the flattened pieces of broken rock.
I am not sure how long it has been like this, but it dawned on me that there was once a bridge to cross the creek from either side of the dirt-gravel road. It had collapsed long ago, but the little girl in me had created a scene that suggested it was never a bridge, but instead flat rocks in the middle of the creek for me to sit on.
It was never broken to the little girl in me - it was just meant to be the way it was. The water ran over these rocks to make the rippling sound that a creek is supposed to make and the few iron rods were there to hold onto if somebody needed help crossing. I just accepted it the way it was without question.
But today…it was broken.
This is my favorite place to go no matter what mood I am in, but especially when I want to have alone time with God. It is a special place He invites me to come be with Him.
As I looked around at the large broken pieces wedged deeply into the mud in the creek and a few pointed pieces sticking up along with the large flat pieces, I felt sad as I saw its brokenness. And, why would God have this special place to meet me if it is broken? Am I broken? No, but at one time I was.
It is true that I have been concerned about many things over the past few weeks so I hadn’t come to the creek to let my inner child play. Instead I was a burdened woman now seeing the scars of my creek.
I was instantly reminded of the brokenness that occurred in my life years ago and then as I watched the beautiful water flowing over the jagged broken pieces of concrete, I saw …that it was necessary.
I looked far out to the rest of the creek moving very slowly with barely any ripple or sound. It was rather boring without the serrated pieces of rock to change the water’s journey. The water ran over the rocks and it sparkled in the light with a song to sing! It made the lazy old creek more interesting. Maybe that is why it is my favorite spot.
Maybe that was why God leads me to this place to meet Him. I once was broken, but now in the light - His light, I sparkle and I have a song to sing. And, that makes me more interesting than being a lazy body complacent and just existing.
Instead of my special place feeling broken - it felt ‘purposed’.
jen@jenjeffrey.com