Northern Michigan is so beautiful at this time of year. This past weekend my husband and I enjoyed a wind-tossed hike along Lake Huron’s shoreline. We took time to simply wade in the warm shallows and watch the geese couples call their goslings to safety while a gaggle of native swans bobbed on the offshore waves. It was so refreshing after our long winter.

In our dating years (we met in high school) I was woefully ignorant of the great outdoors. I grew up in town and enjoyed being outside. I wore out a pair of flip flops every summer. I climbed trees, swam in the Thunder Bay River, picked night crawlers, but really knew so little about nature.

It is through my husband’s influence that I have developed a broader knowledge of and appreciation for nature. His tutoring over the years has trained me to pay attention to details that I used to overlook when outdoors. While driving on a dirt road it is not uncommon for him to stop the car, roll down the window and slowly back up while peering intently at the ground. I now know that he is identifying an animal track – and not only what kind of animal left the print, but whether the track is fresh and a myriad of other details.

Hanging around with this guy has caused me to exercise my senses and become more aware of my surroundings. I’ve learned to read and recognize signs of animal activity that never mattered to me before. I’m getting better at telling the difference between a large dog’s print and a coyote, fox or bobcat’s track based on the toe configuration, whether claws marks are visible or not, and the pattern of the track.

Last week the weather was perfect for our first canoe ride of the season. We headed for a small inland lake accessed by a narrow gravel road. As we pulled into the small parking area, we encountered the tracks and evidence of previous visitors – the two-legged kind. The whole area was littered with bottles and cans, an old mattress and all sorts of other trash. What a disappointment.

Humans leave tracks too – we often see their footprints along the beaches and trails we explore. As with animal tracks, we can usually pinpoint certain things about the people from the size and depth of the track, but beyond the basics, their identity remains a mystery unless they leave other clues behind, like the people at the boat launch did.

On our way home I couldn’t help but think about those who left the trash behind and ask why? After years of church ministry, I’ve concluded that much of the time, the fruit of a person’s life replicates their internal environment. Their words and actions give off evidence of what matters or doesn’t matter to them. Without strong internal beliefs to guide our everyday behaviors, we are adrift and self-focused with little or no regard of others.

It is easy to recognize that we live in a broken world made up of flawed and imperfect human beings. What thrives within us flows out of our mouth and is reproduced in the way we treat others and gives birth to the values that guide the way we live.

The Apostle Luke records Jesus’ insight on this, “The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good; and the evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil; for his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart.” (Luke 6:45)

This prompted me to ask myself questions that I come around to fairly often. “What is thriving on your inside?” “What imprints are you making on people?” “What are you leaving behind?”

I learned long ago that I cannot change myself. No Ted Talks, no amount of positive thinking or behavior modification could set me free from my anger, the negative thinking, or my bitterness and unforgiveness toward others. My heart needed a complete transformation and healing so that I could produce good fruit. Fruit that benefited others.

I am still in process, but as a young woman I came to the end of myself, so to speak, and turned my life over to God. The recognition of my brokenness and bankrupt state drove me to my knees where I acknowledged Jesus as my Savior and Lord and yielded my will, my life, my all to Him.

I am eternally grateful for God’s mercy and transforming power – from that moment on everything changed. My internal environment became occupied by His Spirit who began to cleanse and transform me from the inside out.

The Prophet Ezekiel declares this promise from God, “I will give them an undivided heart and put a new Spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh. Then they will follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. They will be my people, and I will be their God.”

I usually carry a trash bag or two when we walk the beach so that I can pick up trash that has washed ashore or been left behind by others and deposit it in the dumpster as we leave. May I say that I have been amazed and awed by the kindness of God as He patiently cleanses me of my internal debris and clutter. The mountain of trash that I had collected within is gone and the imprint that I leave behind is much more life-giving. All glory to God.