No Trespassing

Maxwell has discovered a new word. He likes saying it. Likes the way it sounds rolling off of his 4-year-old tongue. He experiments using it in a sentence. That word is "Trespass".

As I worked outdoors today Max kept putting his rusty yellow dump truck in my path. "Mommy , no trespassing!" he would say sternly. If I continued past him , Max was put out. "Mommy, you trespassed," he would inform me.

My desire to walk through the yard unhindered seemed pretty reasonable to me. Maxwell's desire not be trespassed upon seems reasonable to him. After the third time or so I was about to get grouchy with him when it hit me: I had trespassed on a friend this week.

I didn't see the signs. They were vague. Or maybe I wasn't looking. It was obvious to the sign's owner, but somehow not to me. hmmm. But the end result was a friend felt hurt.

Suddenly the issues of right or wrong, reasonable or unreasonable no longer matter. God says that ignorance is no excuse for sin.

The person for whom this post was written may never see it. If I could see her right now I would dust my footprints off of her sign, and hand it back with a hug and apology.

Regardless of the outcome, the story is worth telling.

peace to all,
-E