One Woman's Journey!

On the bluff high above the field below, the cattle grazed, the squirrels and rabbits ran freely, and the summer breeze gently blew the growth of weeds through out the bottom land. She sat with her skirt wrapped around her legs pulled against her body. Her chin resting on her knees, she quietly allowed her mind to wander the direction it had led her often lately. This was her place of solace, her place to dream. Dreaming came easy as she listened to the birds chirp their song of freedom. Their singing added to the peace she felt nowadays, especially since that night at the revival last month.

The birds that scurried overhead, stopping to sit on the branch of a nearby oak, seemed to have a knowing they were cared for. Their daily nutrition was always whenever or wherever they looked, so they had no need to worry. They had no need to think of tomorrow or dream of another time or another place, for they were content. She was content for the most part, except for the yearning for something more that enveloped her lately.

"Can one be at peace and still be restless? Can one be content and restless at the same time? Probably not. Ah,well," she decided to push those thoughts aside momentarily.

Just below the trek up to the bluff, was the spring of clear as crystal water, where she had gone numerous times during the day for fresh supply her mother needed for cooking or drinking. No one in the family was the wiser yet that her trips to fill her pail took longer than the others did. She had made a pact with herself to stop at the bluff for some quiet time when she was on a water errand.


Quiet times were difficult to come by in a house filled with girls ranging in age from six to seventeen years old. Quiet times of thoughtful- even deep thinking, (as much as a thirteen year old can do of course), that had come about by the desire to know who she was in light of creation. The animals had a purpose. The birds knew their place. The furry rabbits made a meal complete when there was no other meat for the family.

Before last month however, she had lived each day, following the order of the day which had been laid out. Go to school, come home, do chores, do home work around the dining table, and then to bed by eight o'clock. Before last month, she had been a girl content on playing make believe. In her imagination, she was a teacher. It was no problem to teach the wild flowers, the chickens, and oft times her constant companion, Jack who was her only student. Setting on his hind legs watching her hands do as much movement as words that came from her mouth. He was entertained by her gestures, speech or singing, keeping his hears perked upward while moving his head and eyes he kept watch as though waiting for a command to move on.


Being thirteen, it was difficult to visualize a future beyond the green acres, with rolling pastureland, fields of corn, and tobacco, not to mention the peanut patch and garden. Moving from Michigan in early 1944, a trip, she only remembered bits and pieces of, and then the memory was so faded she never recalled it for any closer examination. There was no need. At thirteen, no one lives in the past, or has any reason to reminisce on yesterday. At thirteen, there is enough going on in the present, that to take time away from the now would make no sense. She had no reason to think that one-day it would be nice to know the details of that move, or the house she called home for a few years. That was something for the another day, as for now however, the quiet times on the bluff were daily occurances where she sorted out the new thinking that was taking place in her heart and mind.

She raised her head to focus her eyes on the Long Branch creek as it wound its way through the farm making a great swimming-hole as well as giving the cattle water to drink. At the bend of the creek-bed was a waterfall, small but essentially a waterfall . The rushing water over the protruding rocks, added to the sights and sounds of the land she loved, but planned to leave one day hoping to return and find everything as she had left it.

No one had left the farm yet,except for stories of great uncles who one day had walked out of the fields and never returned. However,it made sense to her somehow there was a world outside their green acres. Just how vast, she was not sure. Somehow, however, it called to her as a yearning from deep within that she could not explain. It was a restlessness - for what, she was not sure.

Shortly, she picked up her pail filled with water and moved slowly and purposefully up the grade over the rolling rocks of the winding path toward the road. At the top of the hill, she waited for any sound of a car coming up or down the road before proceeding across to the last 50 yards or so to the house. With each step, she prayed. "Give me wisdom, knowledge and understanding", not realizing the words that formed in her heart was actually praying God's will for her life.