Welcome to The Rock—Alcatraz.

Fortress. Military prison. Maximum-security U.S. penitentiary. Native American activist stronghold. Bird sanctuary. National Park … and as a dear friend would describe it, a place swarming with redemption.

On a day celebrating independence, our team decided to incarcerate ourselves, walking the very paths of high profile felons like Al Capone, George “Machine Gun” Kelly, and Robert “The Birdman” Stroud.

Located 1.5 miles from the shores of San Francisco, Alcatraz—named for its dense population of sea birds—is surrounded by the chilly Pacific waters and the Bay Area’s relentless winds.

The sights and sounds of the City taunted prisoners enslaved within the cold, concrete walls of the most infamous U.S. prison. The sheer proximity to freedom psychologically agonized inmates. It was seemingly at their fingertips, yet could not be grasped.

Good behavior was rewarded with time out of the cages to enjoy America’s pastime.

Just beyond the chains dwell signs of redemption–gardens kept by inmates and new life on an island paradise for the birds.

This is where hope is felt. Hope that just one inmate found eternal forgiveness behind those steel bars. Hope that a stony place with a tainted past can spawn beauty from ashes.

And I’m confident it can.

“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.” -Ezekiel 36:26

Sandies – my own little piece of Heaven on earth where I spent much of my childhood.

This is the place I learned it’s okay for girls to play in the mud, climb trees, and race four wheelers. But most of all it’s the place the leading men in my life taught me to respect and care for the great outdoors.

Six miles from electricity and cell phone service, Sandies has become a place of solitude … a retreat from the hustle and bustle of life in the Metroplex to be still and know.

Yes, places like this still exist. You just have to turn down a dead end road and hope your vehicle makes it through the ruts to get there.

Here the vastness of the sky reminds me of my insignificance. Here the infinite beauty of God’s masterpiece leaves me in wonder. Here I find rest.

My family spent Easter weekend here … where the lush greens of spring serve as reminders of the Hope that bloomed after a long, cold winter.

Our Lord has written the promise of resurrection, not in books alone, but in every leaf in springtime. -Martin Luther