Glad I did

I'm blessed to have family who've been blessed to have a house on the shores of Lake Michigan in Wisconsin.


It's gorgeous there, no matter what the season;

and walking along the shore, I've picked up an embarrassing number of stones... lovely pieces of ancient granite whose size, color or texture appealed to me on any given day.

For some reason, right before going on retreat at the Abbey, I had the idea to share the stones; to write words of hope or consolation or words I've needed to hear at points in my life and leave them in different places around the retreat grounds for fellow travelers to find.

So I spent an hour or so, praying with the stones and then took permanent marker and wrote.

As I walked the grounds, I would see various places that looked like spots to trade out one piece of nature for another.

and I did.

The best part, for me, was hearing people talk about finding them, knowing they were a message from God to strengthen them on their journey and exactly the words they needed to hear; a few folks even said it was the best part of the retreat.

Actually, I take back that previous statement ... the best part was me NOT admitting I had done them... letting God get the credit - because I think that's where my idea came from in the first place.

Maybe the idea shouldn't be limited to just a retreat...
random message stones might make a difference in the path of someone walking around my town too... hmmmmm.

Of course, now that would entail another visit to WI to replenish my supply but, oh well, I'm willing to make the sacrifice!

I'd bet Pearl would love to go back too!