Archive for the ‘Personal’ Category

I glanced to my left.  The woman in the next car was combing her hair and applying lipstick, eyeliner, and mascara—all while maneuvering in and out of traffic. Thank heaven she’d taken her shower before she left home.

All Roads do Not Lead to Rome…or to Carol’s House.

My sister’s directions to her house seemed simple enough: Go east on 494 to Highway 52. Take 52 South to the big sign reading Douglas Trail Road. You can’t miss it. Go east on Douglas Trail until it comes to an end—that’ll be Highway 36. From there, we’re just a few miles down the road on your left.

I missed two clues that indicated this would be one long trip.

Do you ever feel powerless, at the mercy of circumstances?  Sometimes I do.

But in the past couple of years I am more invigorated and empowered than ever before in my life.

Wow, it only took 66 years. Easter hit me hard this year and woke me up to two truths that can set us free.

She had been lost for three hours at 10,500 ft in mountain wilderness.  Panicked, I had run in every direction and called her name until my voice was gone.

I could close my eyes and see her blond hair and innocent blue eyes. She must be terrified.  I remembered the swampy area farther up the mountain between the creek and the road—a stretch of bog covered with almost impenetrable brush and potholes full of mossy, stagnant water.

I clawed my way uphill through thick brush that fought my every move. Often I would sink thigh-deep in small muddy pools. The strenuous effort plus the altitude and stress dragged me to the brink of exhaustion. Don’t let her be in here I prayed as I slogged ahead. Please. Don’t let her be in here.

Even in the middle of the best, most benevolent and productive activities, it is wise to keep our eyes open for another kind of opportunity, a moment born within the one we are engaged in.  A moment we dare not miss.

Our original plan isn’t always the best plan and what seems like an interruption may actually be an invitation to a witness a tiny miracle.

This is the story behind the painting that inspired my post “King of The Forest” and the lesson I learned from a little boy wearing a crown of leaves.