Encouragement

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"There's a stupid turtle again!" my 13 year old son groans as we make our way up the narrow
mountainous road for the millioneth time, it seems, that week. The church, and his school, are located at the top of the mountain and we go up several times a day for various reasons. "You're gonna make me move it again, aren't you?"

He sighs, as if I was requiring him to get out of the car and move a two ton boulder or something.

But he's right. I am putting on my emergency flashers as he speaks, slowing the car down, checking for cars coming up behind, or from the opposite direction.

He and I have dubbed this the 'Summer of the Turtles'. Everytime I see one inching its way across this road, I feel compelled to move it away from the dangers it doesn't even realize are there.

Quite a few turtles have been saved from our efforts and we both feel kind of proud of this tiny contribution to wildlife,even if they are just turtles.

I have been thinking about these turtles in a new way, too. How much like those 'stupid' turtles we humans can be. I think about all the times I have been like a turtle,blinding going forward, not sure where I might be heading, confident in my own abilities and intelligence, never even considering or even noticing the difficulties ahead.

Then, God reaches through my self-sufficiency,
after I've realized that-'Uh-oh, what have I gotten myself into' moment, lifts me up, just as my son or I lift up the turtle, and moves me back into the safety of His love, just as we move the turtle into safety.

We don't know where our turtles eventually wind up. Maybe they decide to cross the road again, or
they go on to live in the safety of the woods.

I'm grateful to know where I will eventually wind up, no matter how many times Our Lord has to reach down, pick me up, dust me off, and set me off on the right path again. Like the turtle, I will never make all the right decisions. Thank God I have Him with me on my road, every minute, every hour, every second,to nudge me back in the right direction.

I'm glad He doesn't require perfection, only willingness. Aren't you?

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