Blog Post

Walking the Harder Trail

When Life Requires A Person To Dig Deeper....

I haven't put up a new post in over two weeks. There's a good reason for that; it isn't simply because I felt lazy and chose not to. (Although since it's my blog I guess that would be okay too, although it doesn't seem okay to me.)

I am confident that every one who reads this post has walked difficult trails in their lives. The ones with rocks that threaten to trip you up, overgrown branches that whip you in the face before you have a chance to avoid them, and some steep inclines that leave you grimy, sweaty, and tired. Sometimes the trail is beyond our capability, so we need to be honest with ourselves if that's the truth. If the sign at the beginning of a literal hiking trail warns it is difficult, I don't consider it anymore.

But if you haven't walked a few of these trails by choice, you have experienced them in what life has thrown at you. And let's face it: sometimes we've taken a wrong turn and the hard trail is from a mistake we made. Other times we choose it to meet a worthy personal goal.

Have you chosen to help others along the way on their hard path? Why?

Because of a sense of obligation, or because you want to be well thought of? Or maybe a sense of guilt if you don't.... 

None of these are necessarily bad reasons; they can still yield wonderful fruit, and bring great relief to someone else's walk.

But this time it was a privilege to chose time on a difficult trail.

It was eagerly undertaken because of love. Love for family who are both biological family and spiritual family.  There was a need and I was available to meet it. The days were full of blessings, needs met, problems discussed and resolutions found or simply provided through the generosity and caring of others. There were weary hours, there was grief  and sadness shared, and God's amazing strength when we knew our own was running short.

I came to the end of this particular difficult trail worn and weary, but with a wonderful inward joy at the completion. I'm currently recharging for whatever lies ahead - the difficulty of life's future paths is unknown. All the harder paths traveled in life should leave us wiser and stronger.  Most of us have the scars to prove it.

What softies we would be if we didn't have harder paths to travel!