Friday, January 9, 2009

Guardrails





I was seven years old, it was blizzard conditions. I had on a skirt and fuzzy tights.


I should have been safe and sound in my second grade class room, but instead I was hiding my body in a convoluted guardrail.


I should have been practicing my multiplication tables and instead I was two miles from my recess playground, shivering with cold until I became unconscious.


I had run away from school. The reasons were multi faceted- even for a seven year old brain. Now I found myself on Vorhees Rd, a major 4 lane street in my town. As the snow came beating down, I put my little legs behind a post and curved my body into the metal to keep warm. The guardrail probably helped keep me alive that day.


I think about guardrails alot as I drive and see them. Big long strips of metal designed to protect us from going off the road. They can stretch for miles! They act as buffers for drivers on windy curves, keep traffic seperated by lanes and even create overlooks into beautiful valleys and mountains. They weren't designed for seven year olds to hide in!


Do you think God has guardrails set up for us? Little milestones posted here and there to keep us on the right path? I do. I can look back over my shoulder and see them clearly. Looking forward is more difficult but I trust they will pop up at just the right time. Just when there is a dangerous ravine or a gorgeous experience to take in, that spiritual guardrail will be there.


Those spiritual buffers are not meant for hiding. I am not supposed to find one on my path and cling to it for a long period of time. They are meant to be a part of the journey, not the stopping or hiding point. I challenge myself to stay my course, keep moving forward in my relationship and knowledge of God. No hiding, no stopping and no running away, cherishing my guardrails in the proper way.



1 comment:

Dawn Shultz said...

Good insight, as always. And a good reminder for me that God is the one in control.

But I do remember how you scared us all that day.