Straight for the tree
Here I am at 36 and I’m leading the family on our first road-trip vacation. It’s been pretty good even though we get the expected comments from the back. My 7 year old updates me on how far behind we are running based on what I told him earlier regarding arrival time. It’s like a never ending cycle of “Dad, shouldn’t we be there by now!?” Uhg. And then there is the two year old who pulls on her car seat straps every 20 minutes and yells out at the top of her voice, “I STUCK!!” I know, honey, we’re all stuck right now (more than you know). Was that a Waffle House!?
We stopped to visit cousins in TN and had a blast playing outside and swimming. We decided to put my son on a little motorcycle with training wheels in this big field just to see what he could do. Now mind you, it only went like 6 MPH and he did have a helmet on. But I got concerned when I remembered that he gets flustered on his bicycle of another bicycle is within 10 miles of him. So we put him on this little bike and off he goes in the big field. In the distance I see one lone tree. Just one tree – surely he won’t hit it. He’s heading for the tree but there’s this great big field – he’ll turn away. Son! Turn away. Nope. He managed to avoid a massive field and ride right into the lone tree. No harm – but it made me wonder why.
Then I began to think about our lives and the lone trees. We get distracted easily. We miss the parking lot because of the one speed bump. We find the obstacle and we fixate on it rather than living free and enjoying the ride. In the Bible is says “In his heart a man plans his ways, but the Lord orders his steps.” (Prov. 16:9). I wonder if sometimes I prefer to put my own steps together rather than God’s steps and increase my tendancy to run right into obstacles. What a high price we pay sometimes for our own indepentent streak. Maybe peace and freedom can actually be found in letting go and turning over the reigns. I’ve hit enough trees.
Tags: freedom, independence, obstacles