Moments on the Path
Today did not go as we planned! Have you ever said those words?
Those words are valid for our day today. Jeremy and I headed out this morning to record the sermon for Sunday. I told him earlier this week how amazed I was at the direction change the Lord took me on in writing this message. Even throughout the week, the direction has curved in new ways. My sermon is about becoming fishers of men (Mark 1), and I am highlighting the way the men said YES, “at once” to the unknown, giving up all security for a path they had never walked.
We pulled in to the place where we planned to record, and what happened next has left me laughing and almost in tears today. It was so fitting for my sermon writing and the sermon topic of walking a path without knowing what is ahead. Here is what we encountered today, our first location was too loud, but there was a cool turtle, the second one had poison ivy, the third was too steep for me to navigate with my broken foot in the boot. The third location was too rocky to navigate. Then the path went uphill and away from the bank. We found another spot, and we were all set up and started recording…until the traffic picked up on the road nearby and on the path itself. On down the path we went, the next location of recording we had again started to record when a mower started up, and a train interrupted us. By now, we are over a half-mile down the path from our vehicle, and I am in a BOOT on a little scooter. The path had been a lot of up and downhill slopes, so we decided that Jeremy would go back for the vehicle, and I would continue on the path to the next parking area.
We parted ways, and I moved ahead alone a little worried about being alone in a boot. I have seen too many movies and shows that had my imagination flowing lol! I made it close to where we were going to meet and found the PERFECT spot to record the sermon for what felt like the hundredth time. I sat down and waited for Jeremy to find his way to where I was. He got there and agreed that it was a great location. We got all set up, and I began recording…and then the sirens started up, and a train came through, and another mower came close to where we were recording. We sat there laughing at the path of our time spent recording. We paused and sat down together and decided to wait to see if the noises would cease.
That might have been my favorite moment of our day. Sometimes we head down a path not knowing what we are going to encounter, but then there is a moment of peace and quiet, and we have an opportunity to breathe and see God’s beauty around us. Jeremy and I snapped a couple of pictures together. I leaned my head back against him in the second picture, and I was reminded that God is right with me like that. God is there for me to lean my head on His shoulder when I need to feel close to him. He is there at my back when I am not sure how to take another step. God is nudging me down the path when I am fearful of what is ahead.
Well, the noise did not stop, so we decided to grab some lunch. After lunch, we went back to our spot. We got all set up again to record the sermon. I began recording, and another train came through. We just started laughing. We paused, and I was able to complete the recording. I cannot say if that will be our final recording, but I can say, today was a journey. We did not plan for it to be like it was, but we navigated despite the turn of events, and I now have my broken foot propped up on the couch resting after my journey that was longer than we anticipated.
Friends, many of us are navigating a turn of events in our lives right now. Things are not what we anticipated they would be. I encourage you to stop and rest your head on the shoulder of Christ, lean into Him when things get stressful. Cry on His shoulder when the path takes an unexpected turn, and you aren’t sure if you have the strength to get up the hill! He is there. He has your back. He never said following Him would be easy, but He does promise to equip you for the journey.