Handwritten Sign

A favorite story of mine as a young girl was the story of Heidi.
Heidi who lived with her aunt after the death of her parents.
Heidi whose aunt left her with her reclusive grandfather in the Swiss Alps.
Heidi who endears everyone who came to know her.

Growing up with Shirley Temple movies, that version of Heidi was always my favorite.
I felt her loneliness when Heidi was first left in this unfamiliar place.
I felt her fear when Heidi was taken against her will to Frankfort, Germany.
I felt sorry for Clara, the invalid girl Heidi was to befriend, until I realized she was spoiled.

The story, by Swiss author, Johanna Spyri, captured me.
I especially related to Heidi’s longing for home.
I felt her pain in the city when she could not see the sky or breathe the fresh mountain air.
I cheered when she was reunited with her grandfather.

I felt like Heidi the other day when I went to my least favorite place.
I am not a fan of malls.
There is a mall about forty minutes from my home that I rarely visit.
In fact, I am known to say that it pains me to ever have to go there.

This mall is described as being “a diverse mix of 400 stores”.
It is known to be “a collection of luxury retailers unsurpassed in the region”.
It is “one of the most iconic malls in the nation”.
It was to this mall that I needed to go with my youngest daughter.

We were not there to shop.
My daughter was there to meet two college friends.
This mall was a central location for each of them.
I drove with my daughter because we had plans later in the day.

While the girls sat and talked, I walked around the massive mall.
I people watched.
I window-shopped.
I stared at price tags, which required a double take to make sure I read them correctly.

I saw small designer bags for $495.00.
I saw couture shops.
I saw makeup artists redesigning a perfectly lovely face.
I saw more sales clerks than I could ever fathom, who approached me as soon as I entered.

I felt like Heidi in the big city.
I wanted to see the sky.
I wanted to smell fresh air.
I wanted to walk into a small store and say hello and be greeted by name.

I’m a small town girl.
I’ve lived too long in the country.
I’ve shopped sales and bargains far too long.
I’ve frequented too many consignment sales and vintage shops to ever pay full price.

I wanted to go home.
I had two hours until the girls would be done.
I ended up sitting on a sofa type bench just listening to the din around me.
I was very out of place.

The girls came down the escalator.
It was lovely to see them and be greeted with a warm hug.
My daughter and I left and headed on the turnpike to my favorite place.
My place of solace.

The place where I can see the sky.
The place where I can smell the fresh air, until the fields are fertilized.
Even then, it is the place that gives rest to my soul.
The place I feel most at home.

After seeing so many signs advertising what was needed, what one must have, I saw it.
A simple sign along the road.
A handwritten sign that would be easy to miss unless you knew to look for it.
A sign that was a gift for me to see.

WATER FOR YOUR HORSE.

That was it.
Nothing more.
The words were everything to my thirsty soul.
The words were so refreshing as they washed over me with truth.

Abraham was now old and well advanced in years, and the Lord had blessed him in every way. He said to the chief servant in his household, the one in charge of all that he had, “Put your hand under my thigh. I want you to swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and the God of earth, that you will not get a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I am living, but will go to my country and my own relatives to get a wife for my son, Isaac. (Genesis 24:1-4)

The servant did exactly what his master Abraham had told him to do.

Then the servant took ten of his master’s camels and left, taking with him all kinds of good things from his master. He set out for Aram Naharaim and made his way to the town of Nahor. He had his camels kneel down near the well outside the town; it was toward evening, the time the women go out to draw water. Then he prayed, “O Lord God of my master, Abraham, give me success today, and show kindness to my master Abraham. See, I am standing beside this spring, and the daughters of the townspeople are coming out to draw water. May it be that when I say to a girl, ‘Please let down your water jar that I may have a drink,’ and she says, ‘Drink and I’ll water your camels too’ – let her be the one you have chosen for your servant Isaac. By this I will know that you have shown kindness to my master.” (Genesis 24:10-14)

And so it happened just as the servant prayed.
Rebekah was the granddaughter of Abraham’s brother, Nahor.
Upon the servant’s request for a drink of water, Rebekah answered, “Drink, my Lord.”
“I’ll draw water for your camels, too, until they have finished drinking.” (Genesis 24:18,19)

That was no easy task.
Camels drink as much as 30 gallons of water in fifteen minutes.
The servant had ten camels with him.
It is possible that Rebekah had to draw 300 gallons of water in order to pass the test.

WATER FOR YOUR HORSE.

I doubt that this was a test to see if someone was suitable for marriage.
However it was a testimony to selflessness.
It was the epitome of one-anothering.
It was giving of what you had to someone who needed it.

I imagined a small Amish boy watering the horses for a traveler.
I imagined an Amish girl offering the traveler some cold water or homemade lemonade.
Even though I had a minivan and not a horse, this sign welcomed me.
This sign showed me that someone cared enough for a stranger to do the simplest thing.

WATER FOR YOUR HORSE.
What if we made our own handwritten sign?
WATER FOR YOUR SOUL.
Living Water here, poured out, to quench your spiritual thirst.

I’m a country girl at heart.
Handwritten signs are important.
They advertise the important things so simply.
They do not lure, or cajole, or compete.

They are a simple statement.
They meet a need.
They could easily be overlooked unless you are meant to find them.
And find them you will.

Write the sign: WATER FOR YOUR SOUL.
They will come.
All those He calls will come.
They will come and you will quench their thirst with His Word.