The other day I was supposed to go on a hike with a few friends on a little used trail through the woods in one of the local parks. My intention was to replace a geocache that had been hidden and then lost. But alas, life had other plans. Mother Nature dumped nearly half a foot of snow on the area, reminding us that, while we had almost a full week of beautiful false spring, it was still most definitely winter here in this little swath of the Midwest. The friends and I decided that the woods would be hard to traverse. The little used trail would be difficult to find. Replacing that geocache that was hidden…. well, it still is waiting to be done.
Such is life. Plans are made. Plans are cancelled. And life goes on.
I recalibrated though, as I often try to do when plans don’t work out. I went on a different adventure that was just as magical with one of the friends. Instead of hiking woods and replacing a single geocache, we found several others in urban settings. Memories were made. Giggles were had. An inside joke regarding ducks was likely born. What could have been disappointment and frustration became magical regardless. And that original adventure is still being planned, gracefully so. It may look different than it did the first stages of planning once we finally get it done, but it is still there in our heads, waiting and wondering when it will come to fruition. Eventually, there will be a new container, once we get those together who can go (For those wondering why I just don’t go and do it myself…. it’s a geocache that requires climbing, so I will not be going alone on this one for safety reasons.)
Often plans change. Often life throws us curveballs. Often we have to change our mindset to get things accomplished. But that’s the magic of our story. It can change in a heartbeat, becoming tragedy or blessings of different kinds at a moment’s notice. It’s how we learn to roll with those changes that define us.
It’s the season of Lent, the annual reminder that the Advent themes of hope, peace, joy, love and light are still working through us and amongst us. But there is a bit of a difference here….. whereas during the Advent season we felt them strongly as the days were shortening and the darkness was growing long, in this season the light grows longer as the nights shrink. But even still, in these days of bright light, we must remember that there is hope. There is peace. There is joy. There is love.
But there is also grace.
“O to grace how great a debtor, daily I’m constrained to be!”
~ Robert Robinson, “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing”
I have been thinking about grace lately, so when this hymn was sung at that tiny church in my little swath of the Midwest this past Sunday, I kind of hyper-fixated on that particular verse.
Daily, I mess up.
Daily, I stumble
Daily, I say things or do things that I regretfully obsess over later.
Daily, I require grace.
But I don’t give myself that kind of grace. I beat myself up for the mistakes I have made, the things I have said, the intentions I may or may not have declared. I lose sleep over it and let them rule sometimes over my emotions to the point where I stress out. But grace…. it’s there regardless. And I owe it a great deal of debt.
But that grace doesn’t work alone. It needs us to try to change. It needs us to intend to do better and be better. It needs us to recalibrate our paths and find the trails again, even as they are full of obstacles that may cause us to stumble. It needs us to embrace the curveballs that are thrown at us and use our inner magic to create the story.
It’s grace that helps us find that magic once more. It’s grace that keeps the light, the love, the peace, the hope and the joy going, even in this season where the end result is crucifixion and a tomb. Because it’s grace that writes the ending to that story, just as our stories are written.
Find that grace. Accept it just as you do the magic.
Stay magical, friends.
Write your own story.
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K. S. Wood Writes 