Having a Heart Like His: Satisfied in His Footsteps

Satisfied.

I'm running through the forest trees until I find where their fingers open up, revealing a palm of rippling water, laughing springs, tadpoles swimming, and fish darting away. I inhale. Those spring flowers, purple, mixed with laughing daffodils and rose blossoms and violets in hues of purple and yellow and white. Drops on hidden soil, the humus and leaves together, and I smell a rainforest.

I walk those paths, the little cleanings through brambles and sharp branches. I see sunrays floating through trees' boughs, and they dance and sing in the wind.

And it's forever; every tree swaying and singing and trembling to the sound of His voice.

The forest watches me, all those eyes and burrows, nuts spread like a bumpy carpet before me. And I walk, always walk, finding those footsteps I long to mix mine with.

Depressions sink into muddy soil, two almost half-moons from the deer, the childlike hands of the raccoon. I see droppings and tree-rubs and holes left from woodpeckers. But the steps I long to see, I search for them.

And when I find His footprints, I run. I follow them. I dance with the trees, sing! I tromp through the creeks and splash in His beauty and presence and friendship.

That's when I'm satisfied.

His path leads me up. We ascend the high hills, enter grassy meadows. I see where seed heads part, where He already passed through. I throw myself forward, follow. The plants itch my legs, but I'm safe in this way He set before me.

The flowers are different here, more harsh with bitter-sharp sides. Little peeks of goldenrod and iron-weed and a thousand other flowers are the walls around me as I follow His footsteps.

Sometimes I fall too. But the beautiful thing is that here, where bird songs ring and air is strong, I'm not alone.

This pathway is His pathway, and He is here. Ordinary things are extraordinary, and life has purpose.

I'm not a slave to fear or people or time or tasks or anything in this world. I'm on the edge of a journey that will last forever, an endless frontier, and I've only seen the beginning. But I'm satisfied here, because the world is gone and I have Him.

I walk or skip or dance down these trails, and when I get off them, I cry and hurt and break. So I find them again, His footprints, the places He went and draws me into.

He is faithful.

Dear Friend,

Are you satisfied, completely and abundantly satisfied?

You're not a slave.

You're not a slave to what other people think of you. You're not a slave to time, to your schedule, to sleep, to eating, to anything. Nothing can control you, can define you; You're His.

Jesus'.

And that's where satisfaction comes from.

So if you're struggling to smile today, if you feel empty, know that He's there. Look for His footprints, and ask Him to draw you to His high places. Remember Who He is, and pray for the fear of the Lord.

He is faithful and merciful and true, and nothing can separate you from that love. Nothing.

Happy Today; you're never alone.

*hugs*