Do you know the legend of the Cherokee Indian youth's rite of Passage? His father takes him into the forest, blindfolds him and leaves him alone. He is required to sit on a stump the whole night and not remove the blindfold until the rays of the morning sun shine through it. He cannot cry out for help to anyone. Once he survives the night, he is a MAN. He cannot tell the other boys of this experience, because each lad must come into manhood on his own. The boy is naturally terrified. He can hear all kinds of noises. Wild beasts must surely be all around him. Maybe even some human might do him harm. The wind blew the grass and earth, and shook his stump, but he sat stoically, never removing the blindfold. It would be the only way he could become a man! Finally, after a horrific night the sun appeared and he removed his blindfold. It was then that he discovered his father sitting on the stump next to him. He had been at watch the entire night, protecting his son from harm. We, too, are never alone. Even when we don't know it, God is watching over us, sitting on the stump beside us. When trouble comes, all we have to do is reach out to Him.







Let's be more aware of all the choices, situations, twists and turns that brought us to this place right here and now. They May Be Miracles.



Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Easy As Pie

I used to work as a drug and alcohol prevention specialist, which means mostly that I worked with high school students - helped them to realize their strengths, created a cohesive environment for them to excel in, built on leadership skills, and worked with other adults in their schools and community who would help in all of these efforts.  Sometimes we would have meetings, sometimes we would go do fun things, sometimes we planned events for elementary or Jr. High students, and sometimes we held conferences (weekend or week-long) both local and state-wide for the high school students.

After one of these such conferences over a weekend I had gotten home and realized that I had forgotten my eye glasses at the camp.  Yes, I normally wear contact lenses, but I need my glasses at night time, and it's really quite an inconvenience when I don't have them at night.  The camp was over 45 minutes away from where I lived, but if I could get a hold of the camp director it wouldn't have been a big deal to go get them.  This was on a Sunday and I was not able to reach the camp director.
Monday went by as well without luck reaching anyone there.

Because that weekend conference was always held in March I'm thinking that we all must have been going to Columbus that week to celebrate my dad's birthday.  In any case, I was in my car with my parents one day that following week and we were at a stop light in Delaware, where the camp was.  Since we were in Delaware I was just talking to my parents about possibly stopping by the camp to see if I could get in to find my glasses (although I was sure they were already found and put into a lost and found area).  Now, I almost NEVER look into other peoples' cars when I'm driving or at a stop light...I'm kind of a cautious driver and I'm always looking at the road.  But for some reason I looked over at the car next to me at the stop light.

Guess who was driving that car.  You got it.  The camp director!  I rolled my window down and waved wildly at him to get his attention and he looked over, and rolled down his window.  I told him I left my glasses at the camp and he said he had found them.  So I followed him there and was able to get my glasses.  Easy as pie.

I bet you can think of a time that God made something "easy as pie" for you too.  I don't presume to think that things just happen in my favor with no one working it out behind the great curtain.  Yes, we are required to take the journey and make the effort.  Sometimes the decisions we make and the roads we take require much more effort, energy, work, blood-sweat-and-tears, than other times.  But often we find ourselves in the middle of an opportunity, a gift, a "where did that come from?" moment, and it causes us to pause...what are those moments for you?  GOD DOES THIS FOR ALL OF US!  Remember and embrace those times...it's an ongoing gift

2 comments:

Debbie May said...

Absolutely great post. Thanks for sharing!!

Small Burst said...

I used to work for a non profit which required me to speak to drug and alcohol prevention specialists regarding asian/pacific islander cultures. Your story just reminded me of that job. But I digress. Aren't Easy as Pie moments great. It's so funny that the camp director was right there next to you!