LOST IN HEAVEN

I asked God if this was heaven, in which He replies, “ No. This is Prescott Arizona, more specifically Willow Creek Lake”. After surviving the brutal heat, with 56 days over 110 degrees, we went for our first hike ( ok, not really a hike but rather a beautiful walk) with Miley. The weather was just perfect. There were trees all around the lake. Miley actually “froliced” as she tried to catch her first butterflies. It was the perfect place to go kayaking because it had stretches of rocks that you could kayak all the way to the back of them and then come out the other side. There were a variety of birds, mallard ducks, herons, and Canadian geese swimming lazily on the lake or taking in the sun on the rocking sand. Yes, to me, this was heaven…until….Like all good plans, it changed. Halfway around the lake I had to find a restroom. But we were completely on the other side. So, I increased my pace and off I went. At one point I diverted from the path and finally found the restroom. It was only then did we realize we were off the path that we knew would lead us back to our car. We were lost. Have you ever found yourself lost, when, sometimes abruptly or gradually, you find yourself on the wrong path? You wake up one morning asking the question “ how did I get here?” Maybe its your career, marriage or relationship, a toxic friendship, or even, dare I say, your belief in God? Kev and I stopped at the boat launch dock while he looked at the map trying to figure out how we get back to where we started. By then we were tired. Miley was tired. The thought of going all around the lake again no longer sounded “ wonderful”. And then we heard it. The loud sounds of people cheering. Our car was parked at a baseball field. We looked at each other. What seemed like a wrong path was simply another path with a different view. Sometimes, ok maybe many times, the different roads in your life are NOT the wrong ones. It’s just another way to finally get to where you were meant to go. The trip that didn’t come about, the relationship you thought was the right one ended…the career that you had always dreamed of is gone. In each instance it was the stepping stone needed for your metaphoric change, just like the caterpillar that changes into a beautiful butterfly. God created us to be like Him. And it is what looks like the “ wrong” paths that get us to that place of our true selves…our true destiny. Trust the Master in the middle of your unexpected changes and you will find Him to be faithful..faithful to the very end. We may not have really found heaven in Prescott but rather, just another stepping stone towards it.