well done!

i spent much of the last two days at a retreat center in the sticks - taking some personal time to reconnect my heart to God's heart. the things that came out of that aren't really fodder for public consumption, but i wanted to say a couple things. first, if you can get away for a day, do it. i strongly recommend this center too - inexpensive, beautiful facilities, and a glorious natural setting. secondly, there is nothing, and i mean nothing, in the whole world as beautiful as a forest in the fall. walking along the creek, surrounded by nothing but trees in their full cloak of vibrant colors is absolutely breath-taking.

i think it's because a fall forest is a whole human experience. the smell is intoxicating - there were moments i had to stop and just breathe. it's interesting at this time of year, as leaves fall & die, the forest smells so alive... it smells like life. the crunch of my feet was the sound of being 9 again, walking to school in early october. the splashing of the creek over rocks, the songbirds music, the sudden crack of a branch - woven together they are nature's symphony. the fresh scrubbed air that you can almost taste, the feel of the knotted walking stick in my hand, the aching beauty everywhere you look... my whole being vibrated with "well done, God. you do good work!"