Where?
One of the things I enjoy most about living in Colorado is being so close to the mountains and great hiking trails. Often, when we hike, my children enjoy it when we go “off trail”. It’s adventurous to delve into an unknown section of the mountain and forge a path that is not exactly like anyone else’s. However, in doing so, there are greater risks involved. There is the possibility of getting lost; being caught in a briar patch; slipping and falling off a cliff; or becoming stuck in a ravine. Sometimes, you have to turn around and backtrack in order to find your way through.
Though my wife would probably disagree, I always think the rewards far outweigh the risks. My kids love the adventure. They enjoy being part of choosing our direction and creating a new experience. Sometimes we make up stories about fictional creatures that might live in the mountains. We use the unique trees and protruding rock formations and streams as points of interest in a story that is not just being told, but is being lived. All in all in, it is quite fun. UNTIL…
Do you remember growing up and hearing your mother say things like… “It’s all fun and games until someone get’s an eye poked out? Or “until someone get’s hurt.”
Well, it happened! Not the poking of an eye…but, the getting hurt part. While we were hiking off trail down a ravine, one of our children – I won’t mention who (She is the oldest…female…getting married) – slipped and fell. Sat right on a cactus…OUCH! And, while trying to break her fall, she put her hand right on the cactus. It looked like a pin cushion!
At this point, the adventure switched gears and became a rescue mission in which we attempted to hike over a frozen stream and up a ravine while assisting our wounded team member with the throbbing hand and porcupine buttocks.
The younger children began to make up new stories about a creature named CACTUSBUTT. The wounded team member was not amused!
She survived and we discovered that the best way to remove cactus needles is Elmer’s glue! (thank you Donovan, Google and smart phones for that discovery).
Even with the risk, I love adventures. And I love the parallels I find in real life.
Life is full of the unknown. It is full of risks. And everyone approaches life differently. Some attempt to play it safe and only journey on well –lit paths where many have traveled. Others only go where no man has gone before. Some make it up as they go along. Others attempt to prepare for every obstacle and schedule out their travels to the minute.
I would say that I’m somewhere in the middle. I enjoy studying the trails and history left by those who have gone before me. And yet, I still like to risk it all and venture off where others have feared to go. Either way, even with careful planning, life events have a way of catapulting us into the unknown.
Maybe it’s supposed to be that way.
Maybe that’s the only way that God can get us to relinquish our desire to control our lives and truly trust Him.
Proverbs 16:9 Says:
The mind of man plans his way,
But the Lord directs His steps.
In recent years, a lot has happened in our lives that I have wanted to control; I have wanted to change. The path has been rocky; new, full of the unknown. And while I embrace the adventure, in the midst of it all, I truly just want to go where God wants us to go and lead my family into the adventure He has for us.
However, as much as I plan… sometimes I get it wrong. Sometimes I don’t know where I’m going or what the next step is. Sometimes, I have to humble myself and ask for help. I need directions. I need to say I was wrong.
In times like that, I’m so thankful that no matter what, even when we get it wrong, there is a God that loves us and is directing our steps!!
He is directing the adventure and going ahead of us forging the trail that even our best-laid plans could not create!
His direction is always more powerful than our plans. Out of love, He directs us to our ultimate destination.
Unwritten 