Just a blink...Part I

...making the decision to have a child is momentous!  

It is to decide forever to have 

your heart

go walking outside your body...

I shared a conversation the other day with one of our sons.

He made the comment that his wife had asked

if life was ever going to

get easy? 

 

If life were easy...It wouldn't be hard!

Our mortal experience is designed to test what we really care about, 

what we believe...what we really want to become,

and how we really feel about our Father and His Son...

We are to bear each other's burdens, even to absorb each other's burdens...

but not to cause each other's burdens. 

This comment gave me pause for a moment.  I told him

I always got anxious if things were too easy...

because then I knew another BIGGER

test was just around the corner.

I asked him what his response was.

He just grabbed her in his 

arms 

and gently reminded her of how blessed they really were.

I smiled...age will allow me that.

I smiled and sighed, and thought...this mortal existence

in the big scheme of things, is really

just a blink~

*** 

I was pulled back to a spring day when we loaded up

our new blazer and set off for an adventure.

We had invited a married couple

and the manger of 

a sporting goods store, who had become

a close friend.

Remember I said Blazer...this was back in the day, when seat belts were not mandatory...

we crammed ALL of everything we needed, including our

KIDS, in the very back.

 

Packing up all the fishing gear, and fixin's for a 

wiener roast, homemade potato salad, Texas fudge cake...extra coats, gloves and pants for our three little

boys, we headed out for a remote lake, above

Boulder, Wyoming.

I did say it was spring, right?  Spring in Wyoming, means 

there is still snow.

Oh the sky was a brilliant blue...and the sun was just blasting off

the sparkling patches of snow, dabbled up

under the sagebrush and covering the dirt trail we were on.

I am married to a man, who has redefined...

what pushing the envelope means.

There isn't a road, anywhere that he would not try to access

if the destination was worth it. 

Breaking trail on a flat surface, with four wheel drive, is a piece of cake.  We had to navigate just a little hillside, and 

the lake was just around the corner...off behind those

pines yonder'...

Hang on!  Pushing snow just a bit further.  And then off  we 

went sliding into a rut that must have been created the previous fall during the rainy season.  Covered by all of that

blistering, deceiving white, stuff!

We were so stuck...you could not open the passenger side door.

Everyone,  had to climb out over the drivers seat.

NO PROBLEMO'

We had five adults, that could get us out of this situation,

and still plenty of daylight, to do what we had come for.

~FISH~

Were we planning on impressing our guests with this outcome?

Were we creating a memory, worth reliving?

Was this something hard...that was going to be worth the effort?

Five hours later, with back breaking shoveling,

sagebrush strategically placed in front of tires...some laughter and easy banter...mostly frustrated adults, who were by now really hungry, and past the point of living out the hope of wetting a line...

We paused. 

The sun, was dipping lower into the west.

We were not going to get out of this without some help

from another source.  I did not want to sleep in the vehicle. 

The boys had been

having the time of their life.  They just wanted to know if

they were going to get to go fishin'?  "Daylights burning Dad!"

Out of humble frustration,

I called on our little men...and asked them if they could help us out.

I have shared before how I know the prayers of children

are miraculous in the nature of those who are

speaking to our Father.

Innocence, and pure in heart...belief.

It wasn't that I had not prayed myself.  I was praying non-stop...but confusing the issue, with expletives every now and then. 

Off they went to the privacy of the trees.

Oh, I can still see them holding hands, laughing as they

fell into the snow, jumping up...and walking on.

And then

silence.

They were gone longer than I thought that a simple prayer should have taken.  I was getting a little worried...maybe

they had found the lake, and got side tracked, and were 

throwing rocks...or making little boats out of the undergrowth.

I can still visualize them clamoring over the covered

brush.  The sun was creating the most delightful

silhouette's...there was no talking,

just a resoluteness in purpose.

When they reached our group, they quietly announced to me and their Dad, that help was on the way.

"How do you know?"

Dumbest question ever.

"Haven't YOU taught us, that prayer works?"

It wasn't five minutes later, we could hear the struggle of another 4x4 rumbling in on the broken trail, we had created earlier in the day. 

Between their truck and our tow ropes, we were able to wrench

that poor Blazer free...with enough time left to wet a hook. 

Honestly, I can't remember a better tasting burnt hot dog.

I promise, the event was memorable.

I guess where I am going with the tell of this tale is this:

Life is good...no matter what, comes your way.

We have a way of humbling ourselves

don't we?

...opportunities to put the test

of what you profess, will sooner or later...find their

way to your door step.

Great are our blessings.  Tremendous is our responsibility.  Let us get on our knees and plead with the Lord for direction.

Then let us stand on our own feet

square up our shoulders

and 

march forward without fear

to enlarge among people everywhere

that we KNOW who we are.

Children of the Lord~

Love one another.

Serve one another.

Be prayerful.

Be humble.

Be grateful.