As a child it was always an adventure and I thank GOD my parents picked a house to live in on a dead-end street with plenty of woods all around. Life was filled with building forts and exploring different areas in the numerous acres. However, there was one place that was my secret place, not easily found and no alterations from human hands, so it was not visible from afar. One must maneuver down a steep wooded hill till you come to the thicket that was nearly imposable to traverse. So, one would have to skirt around the perimeter till you reached the creek nestled between the steep hill and the creek. One would think this was enough adventure for one small child for the day, but as in life there are always more obstacles to overcome to be in the quiet place. I would have to maneuver over each and every bush and shrub from the dense laurel thicket being careful not to fall into the creek on the side. As one who would seemingly have to dance with every bend and twist inching my way to a small and inconspicuous island in the middle of the towering laurels. There was a tree planted next to the stream and its roots were so dense that the laurels could not overcome the ground it had taken. It was like a small island and I could walk around this tree with ease without the cumber of the wall of laurels. I was free of the entanglements of life, just me and my tree. I must confess it was the tree who did all the work with its dense roots and although the laurels were over twice my size, the tree with its stately manner was able to look down from afar and cover the space above with a lush canopy of leaves. Although I was free to walk around this small oasis, this was not the best part. The tree had provided a large low-lying branch that spanned the creek and was easily claimed upon. I could sit on the branch and dangle my feet in the stream below. The peace and quiet was deafening only the sound of the trickling stream and the rustling of the leaves as the breeze passed through this natural corridor. Oh, the coolness of the stream upon my feet, ever moving, ever flowing from me. It seems as life itself ever moving, ever flowing away from me, one day at a time never to be relieved only to have the next day appear. How can you express the wonders of the quiet place and sitting upon the tree, the rippling of the water, the breath of life in the whisper of the breeze stirring the leaves and filtering the light forming a tapestry of shadows upon the ground? It seems to me as if I could meet with my maker in my quiet place and as surely as the tree held back the obstacles in life and the stream continually flowed as the days in my life and the branch held me secure. The canopy of leaves that sheltered me from the hot day and the breeze that allowed the revealing of the light to dance before my eyes. It was like being in a living orchestra unraveling the days of life to come. I am loved, I am protected and I am sheltered from life itself in my quiet place.
 

                Many years have passed since I have visited my childhood quiet place, but even if I had returned, it would be much different or should I say it is I that have changed so much. For you see this was but a foreshadow of my life to come and I have visited this place multiple times in many places. For there is always security and rest in the tree that Christ Jesus was impaled upon it has changed my life as I have rested upon it. Days may pass as the water in the stream, but He is faithful and true to hold you and cover you with the canopy of His goodness. There are always obstacles to overcome in life as the laurels that impede the way, but there is a joy that in the center of our trials and there is a place of peace. As the tapestry of the overshadowing leaves danced upon the ground, so one day very soon my life will be spread out before the Almighty GOD. I can see there was a plan, there was an author and there was a melody of uncommon praise for a destiny I could not see before me then. I can see this quiet place was not just for me, that each of us has an author and redeemer that is waiting for you to find the quiet place in your life.