Pressing On

When my kids were little, we used to travel a lot.  One of our favorite places to visit was the majestic redwood forest of Northern California.  To me, the trees were mighty but gentle giants that welcomed us into their midst.  Needless to say, I took so many pictures that I could wallpaper a room with them. 

When our daughter was about 18 months old (she's now 23), we took one of these trips to California.  In the redwood forest that day, I snapped a random picture of my husband and our daughter as they strolled, hand in hand, along the path among the giants...... almost as if my precious ones were being enfolded and protected by them.  When we returned home, I put this picture in a picture frame, put it on a shelf, and it became a part of my life.  Yet the danger in that is that when something becomes so much a part of our life....our daily routine, the specialness of it can become ordinary and commonplace.  But then, sometimes God places a prompting in our heart that helps us to look at that which has become ordinary and routine with new eyes, and a new heart. 

And so, that is precisely what happened to me one day as I was beginning the process of entering into ordained ministry.  I had just been accepted into seminary, and did not really know what lay down the road.... obstacles, pathways, pain, joy, failure, success..... all of these entered into my mind, and I allowed self doubt and fear to creep into the joy of the call.  Then, an odd thing happened..... a common thing suddenly became  new.  My eyes fell yet again upon the picture of my daughter and my husband, strolling hand-in-hand, along the redwood giants.  All of the sudden, a verse from Philippians came into my mind:   I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:14 NIV).  Suddenly, I viewed the picture through new eyes, and I received within my very being an assurance that it was all "gonna be ok."  (notice here that the message was "gonna be OK", not "gonna be easy.")  Peace flooded my soul as I once again looked at the picture, but this time saw something new and different.  This time, I saw myself, hand-in-hand with God, walking among the giants.....guided, protected.  What I also saw in the picture was the possibility (make that probability) of obstacles in my path..... like an ancient redwood falling across the forest path, sometimes obstacles fall across our clearly laid out pathway.  Yet, deep down I knew, through this newly learned lesson of the picture from many years before, that with God guiding us and "holding our hand" as we answer God's call, the obstacles become wisdom as we, with perseverence and God's help, overcome them.