MILE MARKERS

We all have many means of recording our mileage.  When training for my last adventure at our parish park, there are mile markers along the trail indicating each and every mile. I never hiked that I did not announce to the group each and every mile marker we passed.

As you wind through the woods you are always aware of how far you have been by the signs along the way.

When I travel to and fro to Texas, the mile markers along the interstate keep me attuned to how far I have been and how far I have left to go.  It becomes a game to count off the miles and watch those markers fly by.

This one turns over my tickle box.

Several of my friends and family have these fancy GPS watches which give them an update on their daily mileage of their workouts.  They then post the information on their Strava App for all the world to share.

We seem to all be suffering from the need to know our exact mileage whether traveling by foot, on a bike, in the water, or in a car.  All cars are now equipped with a Trip Indicator.  What is the deal with our need to know?  

One of the lessons I have learned from my hiking trips is the mileage is not nearly as important as the scenery along the way.  Though I wear a fitbit, I can honestly say I never looked at it to see how many steps I had taken nor how far I had been while hiking through the Grand Canyon.  The breath-taking beauty of the trek was far more important than how far I had been.  What would I have missed had I been consumed with how far I had been instead of the wonders I had passed.

So it is with life, we become so obsessed with our ways of counting  that we miss the beauty of the trip along the way.  How much money am I making, how many degrees do I have, how many people did I see today, how big is my house, how many awards have I received, --how many friends do I have on Facebook, how many hits on the blog were there today--on and on--we are counting to determine how well we are doing.  Sadly we often skip over the important things and sometimes altogether miss them with our obsession with keeping track of the numbers.  

Always thankful for these reminders and I am practicing keeping my eyes open as I trek along this path of life for I am surrounded with the glories of the Lord's creation.

A man’s heart plans his way,

But the Lord directs his steps.

Proverbs 16:9

LESSONS FROM LIFE

For those of you who are not Facebook friends, I have been off on my latest adventure---Zion National Park and the Grand Canyon--via Nevada, Utah, and Arizona.  With a different stopping place all but two nights of the week, when we were camping at the bottom of the Grand Canyon, I spent a great deal of the time trying to figure out just what time it was.  You see Arizona does not observe Daylight Savings Time and Nevada is in a different time zone and it certainly was not the same time as Louisiana.  WHY it made ANY difference, I cannot explain---except for my crazy NEED to know what time it is.

Though it certainly was an excellent adventure, my post is not a recount of all we did, but instead one incident filled with lessons from above.  The next to last day of hiking was down in the Grand Canyon in the Havsau Falls area. The 
Havasupai Indians own this area at the bottom of the Canyon where we spent three days 
and two night soaking in the wonders.  The second full day, after hiking the ten miles down to our campsite the day before, we were to go on a guided tour to a series of waterfalls.

The first waterfall we had read plenty about and knew it would be a very difficult hike--BUT it was only a mile or two away.




It was VERY difficult!  We then forded the creek several times hiking to the next two falls--the last of which is Beaver Falls.  What we DID NOT know was how difficult the last two plus miles of the trek would be.   More ladders--more rock walls and steps.  When we finally reached Beaver Falls, I opted to view from above and skip the last two ladder descents in an effort to give my legs a chance to rest.

We start our trek back--only one way in and out--which means--climbing the same set of steps, ladders, and trails.   As I rounded a corner and looked down at the trail, I knew this switchback would be slippery.  The scree and sand on top of the rock make for little traction.  I looked down and thought, watch your step and the next thing I knew I was on my way down the slope.  When I finally stopped sliding, I began to take inventory.  At first I was very concerned, but after slowly getting up and deciding nothing was broken I was relieved, but my ankle was definitely sprained.  Then we noticed the gash in my arm---thank goodness for my nurse friend, Sonja.  Pulling the skin together on the cut and bandaging all the trail rash, we head out again.  For you see--even though it was painful--there was no option but getting up and getting going.  It was over two miles back including climbing up the chains and ladders at Mooney Falls, but the only way out was one foot in front of the other until I reached our camp.

The thing that seemed to work was to keep moving forward--even in pain.  It was much more painful to keep it still than to try to slowly move forward.  Even in pain, forward motion was the best answer.  With slow determination, I took each step--forded those streams, climbed those ladders,  scaled those rock steps inside the caves and kept moving forward.  The campground and my tent were a welcome sight after seven hours of hiking--but I made it!  

I survived  hiking out and hiked the next day the two plus miles to the helicopter pad for the lift to the top.  (Good sense prevailed and I did not even consider the eight additional miles up and out of the canyon.)  Since returning home, my wounds have gotten better every day with a lovely rainbow of colors all over both legs.  

So it is with life--there are times we are in intense pain--sometimes coming with no warning.  The answer is always to continue to put one foot in front of the other.  Sometimes the forward motion keeps our minds off the pain and sometimes the forward motion makes the pain less--but the forward motion is always the best answer.  Standing at a standstill only draws our attention to the pain and does little to aid our recovery.  I decided a LONG time ago, while running -All Forward Motion Counts--Once again God has reminded me of the truth in this statement.  He is always by my side--- giving me a helping hand--and knows my pain.  God is my crutch in the midst of it all-He is my strong right arm.  Keep your eyes upon Him and keep marching forward---one foot in front of the other until you reach the finish line---all forward motion counts.

the great trials which your eyes saw

 and the signs and the wonders 

and the mighty hand and the outstretched arm

 by which the LORD your God brought you out

Deuteronomy 7:19

PAID IN FULL

AS WE 

 CELEBRATE

EASTER

MAY THIS REMIND YOU

OF WHAT HE DID

HE IS RISEN-

HE IS RISEN,INDEED!

BLESSED EASTER,

DEAR FRIENDS

NO STRINGS ATTACHED

You are very beautiful, always well put together, well spoken, and have a great sense of humor.  I love you for all those traits.  You are a delight to be with and around.

You are the perfect child.  Well mannered, focused, successful, well liked, respectful, and a beautiful person inside and out.  I love you and you have made me so proud.

You are the perfect friend.  We love all the same things-long bike rides, swimming, workouts, running, and those trips to the gym.  The icing on the cake are the adventure trips we take.  We have a perfect friendship.

Did you notice the common thread running through all this?  The perfection is always contingent upon performance.  Our Small Group Study Search for Significance devotes a great deal of verbiage to the "Performance Trap".  We are only worthy of love and acceptance IF we perform up to snuff.  There has been times in my life when I felt mired in that trap.  The sad thing is--even if I could perform as expected--the aura of success was short lived.  The burning question quickly became--what can I do next to keep your esteem?

The world values performance and beauty.  Guess what---Mother Nature wins--and you cannot keep all these balls in the air forever.  Look to The Word--beauty is fleeting and aging is inevitable.  Our children, unlike puppets become teenagers and rebellion is the norm of the day.  The body is one accident or illness away from decline.  If we are performing to maintain our relationships--they are shallow and doomed to failure.  

How many people love us unconditionally?  Who looks at us without expectations?  There are examples of this unconditional love, but I dare say, they are the exception not the norm.  Who loves us in spite of our warts, wrinkles, and failures?  Sometimes our parents, but not always.  Sometimes our spouse, but not always.  Sometimes our friends, but not always.

There is only one who loves us in spite of who we are---God Almighty.  He not only loves us, in spite of, but because of who we are.  His unique creations--made in His own image---flawed--yet perfected through Jesus.  He loves us--if our reflection would break a mirror; He loves us if we are bound and determined to make a mess of our lives.  He loves us even when we fail to perform to our friends' expectations.  He loves us --no strings attached.  Perfection! His acceptance is never contingent--His love is always present--and He never withdraws or fails us.  He loves us--no strings attached.

3 See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!

HIS GOODNESS

At those special moments of spiritual highs--it is so easy to say
"God Is Good"  and yes, indeed, He is good.

When that long anticipated baby makes his first lustful cry,
and tears of joy threaten to leak down your face-
God is Good.

When a loved one in need of a medical miracle,
turns the corner and returns to good health-
God is Good.

When the last day of cold turns to the first glimpse of Spring,
and the glories of new growth shine all around-
God is Good

When the early days of infatuation leads to until death parts us,
and you step off side by side to a lifetime journey-
God is Good.

When laughter springs from tears,
and joy comes from despair-
God is Good.

When all is right with the world,
and the sun warmly shines upon your head-
God is Good.

But-when things go wrong--horribly-terribly--wrong
And all seems lost-
God is Good.

When we say goodbye to those we love,
after begging for them to be spared-
God is Good.

When nature turns lethal,
And disaster and destruction rule the day-
God is Good.

When a lifetime partnership becomes broken at some point,
by death or simply walking away-
God is Good.

When tears fill your days and laughter disappears,
and your faith is tested to the breaking point-
God is Good.

So often I see or hear the comment, "God is Good"-
yes, He is.  Goodness is one of the attributes of God
which cannot be changed or questioned.
Seldom though do I hear of God's goodness
when the world has turned upside down.

When the world is at its worst--He is still good.
Though we do not understand the why's
We Do know He loves us beyond our capacity to understand.
He is faithful
He is our provider
He is by our side--omnipresent.
He is God and He is Good.
On the best day of your life
and the very worst day you can imagine,
God is Good.

And Jesus said to him, "Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone.

Luke 18:19

ANOTHER VOICE INSIDE MY MIND

A

HAVEN FROM MY UNBELIEF

TAKE MY LIFE

AND LET IT BE

BLESSED SABBATH,

DEAR FRIENDS

STAMP OF APPROVAL

I am learning a great deal about myself during our small group study of Search for Significance.  I am going out on a limb here and telling you if you have never read this book--PLEASE consider doing so.  It has been one AHA! after another as the study has progressed.




One of the worldly traps to which I have fallen victim is the Performance Trap.  Here in the final chapters of my life, I discover there have been many a goal I have chased--for temporary gain.  When we begin to place our self worth on our next achievement, we begin the slide down the slippery slope to despair.  For you see, there is always one more hurdle to jump, one more golden ring, one more award, one more achievement in the never ending treadmill leading to absolutely nowhere.  I have allowed man's approval to become my drug of choice to which I am addicted.  No matter how much approval I get, I always want more. "When we evaluate ourselves by our performance, we're ultimately going to lose, no matter how successful we are at the moment."

It has not been enough to chase the elusive laurel wreath of victory in one area, I have turned virtually every area of my life into a competition against myself.  Whatever I have achieved today is soon over shadowed by the next one more thing.  Putting all my apples in the performance basket has lead to a basket full of rotting apples destined for the garbage heap of forgotten ribbons, trophies, and medals.   

Bottom line, my quest for man's approval has become my golden idol.  "Consciously or unconsciously, all of us have experienced this feeling that we must meet certain arbitrary standards to attain self-worth.  Failure to do so threatens our security and significance."  I have lost my way as I aimlessly stroll down the path in search for acceptance and significance.

  I have forgotten The One to whom I am most significant.  God's truth is reliable and His Word is filled with the assurance of His love for us.  "God's truth is the only reality that can help our thinking to be conformed to His, so that our self-esteem is based on how He values us."  In layman's terms, God loves us first and best.  Man's approval is fleeting and temporary, but God's approval is eternal.

For am I now seeking the favor of men, or of God? 

Or am I striving to please men?

 If I were still trying to please men,

 I would not be a bond-servant of Christ.

Galatians 1:10