On a
forest road, off of Mountain Loop Highway:
my favorite Mountain
area near Seattle,
a quick and easy connection to Momma Nature,
I got stuck in the snow, in my friend's RV.
I had been
on this road, near its singular entrance, for 27 hours,
and had
only seen one truck come and go.
I was now near the top of one of
3 branches of this road.
I tried many ways to release the RV
from the snow:
digging,
rocking,
wedging branches behind the
tires
… repeat.
The snow was like a sno-cone,
packed
down hard after much thawing, freezing,
so that my big-self on
my little-feet barely sank-in.
Which was convenient for
walking around,
not so convenient for getting the RV free.
I grumbled to myself: 'Darn this front-wheel-drive RV, with it's weight is over the back tires!'
After
the RV was not immediately released,
I had offered a quick prayer,
that I would shift out of this with ease,
and set restfully to work,
without haste, without fear, without concern:
All will be
well...
All is well.
This is just an adventure, of many adventures.
I
met my friend David, about a dozen years ago, in Baja.
He loved to
say at the time:
Adventures start when breakdowns occur.
Of
course, he is right.
And what a blessing to stand in that place. A
place of serendipity.
God breaks-through and
breathes new direction into my well-laid plans.
It is a
joy to have the luxury of time.
So that a breakdown has the time/space/energy to be a joy, a
blessing;
not a time to hold my breath while I am knocked off-kilter.
Usually my life feels like there is never! enough! time/space/energy,
and of course that is tied
directly to money.
Breakdowns usually seem to mean a cascade of
frustrations and disappointments.
In my life, I think this is
one of the most undermining cycles that I get caught in:
the lie
that there is not enough time/space/energy/money.
and that the answer
is to rush! to try! harder!
As if scurrying and effort
actually get me anywhere...
It was Wednesday afternoon in
late-May, the least traveled time of the week in a National Forest,
at a time of year unpopular for summer-activities, as well as waning
interest in winter-activities.
It crossed my mind that another vehicle may not come way up here, until the weekend.
I had plenty of
supplies, so my only real concern was the cold,
for the RV was
resting on and surrounded by snow.
I knew I could handle the cold,
with the resources I had... possibly even comfortably.
Or... I
could walk the many miles down to the 'main' road,
although it
would be near the edge of my endurance.
So, I went about,
doing what I could do,
working/playing with snow and the RV:
in
peace, in contentment, in play and in comfortable challenge.
And
a half-hour after I got stuck,
long before I was out of schemes to
disengage myself from this rut I got myself into,
up the road came
a truck.
I was pleasantly surprised!
And as I walked up to
the truck and the party unfolded before me,
I knew that God was
taking amazing care of me.
This 4-wheel drive truck had a
sweet man driving,
with his wife sitting beside,
with two dogs romping out of the
back,
and next a babe-in-arms emerging out of the cab.
I knew
I was ok.
Even if it had been 4 guys in the truck, drinking beer
and toting rifles (a more likely option out here).
I knew I was
ok.
But my body/thoughts/emotions were a lot happier with this rescue party
I
now found frolicking around me.
A family who lived 50 miles away, and
hadn't been up here in months...
The guy had a four wheel
drive,
a heavy-duty web that easily hooked to our vehicles,
and
he did all the work.
It took no time,
and when we were
done,
he would take no money, or food, or anything I offered.
It
was a joy though, to repay the debt,
when (you can't make this stuff up) they got stuck in the
same snow I did,
and I was right there to pull them out.
Ha. God is Good.
God is so good to me! and
I
rest in the gentle arms of Momma Nature.
This is always true, but
often I don't notice.
Jesus said: 'when your eye is single, your whole body
also is full of light.'
One of the things I love about being out
in Momma Nature:
life is so simple, uncomplicated, singular, of
human-scale.
I sleep. I eat. I do
nothing.
I read. I write. I play with quotes.
I
hike. I play in a creek. I lay on stones in the sun.
I daydream.
I vision. I meditate.
I play with Spirit. I savor
Momma Nature.
I just be, I am.
In day-to-day life, there are
so many layers of challenge.
As we all do, I have so many
piles of to-dos,
so many people/places/things to manage.
I
am a good juggler and yet, life is intense.
I enjoy being in Momma Nature
where I can let that all stand
aside:
challenges are straightforward, uncomplicated,
solvable.
In this scenario,
a need for a bit more friction under
the front wheels,
or a little help from a
gracious stranger.
Less then an hour after getting stuck in
the snow,
I was off on a hike up the road through which I
couldn't drive.
With my snowshoes on my back.
Slipping
snowshoes on and off, as needed;
I climbed the gorgeous, increasingly
snow-packed road for an hour,
all the way to its amazing end.
Enjoying the
view.
Savoring the challenge.
Knowing more deeply
that God is with me.
Knowing All is Well…
All Manner of Things
Shall be Well.
When have you known God was taking really sweet care of you? How has that changed your
life?
.
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