Lately, I have noticed ordinary things that initially seemed like they were in my path, obstructing something. But, after reflection, I have discovered a new angle:

1. On my walk, I came across a turtle (or a tortoise–not sure.) It was small, had its head tucked in, and was right in the middle of the our little narrow, dead-end road. I thought about taking my foot and pushing the little critter to the side, so he wouldn’t get run over, but decided not to because–                   a. I might get a toe bite, b. he was smack in the middle and probably would avoid the car paths, c. wasn’t sure I would be helping. As I passed, I looked back, and after my warm presence had passed far enough away from the reptilian cold-blooded sensors, he slowly moved himself to back off the road, into the woods. I was glad I let nature take its course. this made me wonder how often we “help” nature, and actually do harm, not good.
2.    I was sitting in church in the very seat where the large wooden cross hanging from the ceiling obstructed my view of the screen with our worship lyrics on it. I thought, the cross is in my way. I felt a strong sense of God agreeing–“Yes, it is.” Wow. that hit hard. The cross is in my path–not by accident, but by design to remind me that sacrifice is a large part of my faith, and trying to work around that is not a good idea. It is supposed to be in my way. It is “the way.” That changed my worship considerably.
3. Leaves and weeds abound in my little river house gardens and lawns. I find them ugly and annoying. But, I asked some teens at church to help me with my gardening, and it seems this has become a huge blessing to them. Their mom informed me that they are telling everyone how excited they are to help. So my annoyance has become a source of great blessing.  How often am I unaware of that, and try to erase annoyance instead of making it a part of giving someone else a blessing?
4. I recently had to go to the dreaded DMV to get a replacement title for my 21 yr-old car I was selling. I would not have needed this if I had sold to a CT resident, because the car is exempt in CT. But I sold to a MA resident, and they need a title. After almost 3 hours at DMV,  I left seeing 35 numbers ahead of me, and at the rate of 4 per hour with it being 2:30pm, my math said, I wouldn’t get in, not to mention that another 4-5 hours of waiting wasn’t my idea of a good time. I mailed in the request form with my check, only to have it returned and denied because it is exempt. So had I waited the other hours, I would still have had the same answer. Ugh. So when my buyer drove away with my plates while I was inside getting him some additonal paperwork.            I was in panic because the plates  still registered the car to us, meant we were liable. So another trip to the dreaded DMV and I was in a snit. The thought of another whole day there was so upsetting. But, this time, I got to the first window in 2 minutes, Dennis gave me an experss ticket, and Linda cancelled my plates in under 5 minutes, and I was out. I did promise Dennis to pray for his ailing dog, and to bless both him and Linda. Amazing. Miraculous. I drove away in a cloud of surreal joy. Why had I not realized I was not in charge of the plan for the day. I then  proceeded to look for a printer for a client brochure, since my regular printer was too busy, and frankly rude. Finding a new printer was also something I wasn’t looking forward to. As it it turned out, the new printer was way better, closer, and will treat me like an agency, not a single job customer. This was an amazing serendipty. As my daughter said, good to find the right printer before my volume of work increased. Wow. My time at DMV took me to a new high, and my discovery of this amazing local printer, kept me in my joyful state of mind and spirit.

So my path was disrupted, but  I am learning to trust the God of the universe to guide me in the path of righteousness for His name’s sake.                                                               I believe I have been put here to bless. That day, blessings abounded and I am grateful to have learned again how Great is God.