Thursday, September 15, 2016

Dearest God,

You bring us aid when we need it.  When you inspire us to fulfill your will for our lives, when you give us a mission, and when you set forth your work for us, you call others to help us.

I think it was nine years ago when you whispered your design to me.  You pointed to the woods behind our house and said, "There will be a spiritual path and it will open there."  The "opening" was a massive, tangled mess of tall, threatening cow roses complete with the biggest, nastiest  thorns I had ever seen.  The trouble was I couldn't see into any part of the long, wide woods and I was afraid.  I could only imagine what lurked in there.  For two years I thought about it.  I prayed about it.  I couldn't see what you could see but I was determined to partner with you.

First, you sent me Cindy, my dear friend, from Indiana.  She flew out that first year and we began work in our nearly 200-year-old house.  Then we moved to the path a few years later and we commenced the gargantuan task of cutting, digging, and pulling up roots the size of my thumb.  Sometime later you sent Susan and then a small group of retreatants who worked on the path for a spiritual exercise.  Then you brought Ginny out.  Cindy came every year starting in 2004 when I closed on the house.  She wasn't able to come this year because she was laboring  on a home back in Indiana.  But Susan became a fixture on the path when she wasn't working at her job. 

The path has been taking shape revealing the wonder of your creation.  Not only can we see through the beautiful woods, we are able to gaze upon the river just over the hill.  The rooms have formed, the altar, the table, the sanctuary, and the secret garden.  Another area is revealing itself.  It is a place of solitude, peace, and harmony.  Although I have spent hours daily working alone, you brought your friends to assist in the mission.  The work is far from done but the labor of love has brought others to bless and be blessed.

Almighty God,
lover of creation
and your creatures,
thank you
for the privilege
of working
with you.
Thank you
for others
who are willing
to assist
in your plan.
Thank you
for all
the amazing gifts
that have come
from your hand.

Love always, Andrea