Monday, April 25, 2011

Roads



When people refer to following their dreams they often use analogies with references to traveling a road...a path. Have you ever been venturing down one path suddenly struck that you were not where you wanted to be? Thankful, you caught sight of the sun streaming a column of light over a clearing. You made your way to a new path.


There’s always a way to a new path.


Today I’m listing several roads you may wish to walk away from as you pursue your dream. (In contrast, I’m also linking a beautiful song for your listening pleasure.)


Whitesnake Road
Sadly, I memorized some of the lyrics to this 80s song… “Here I go again on my own, going down the only road I’ve ever known. Like a drifter I was born to walk alone…”


Whitesnake Road is a path of deception. It’s dark. With each step we are repeatedly bombarded with the lie that we walk alone.


I am not alone. You are not alone. We are not alone.


The Road to Perdition
Slandering. Judging. Jealousy. Hypocrisy. We’ve been on this road without realizing it. We can spend so much time making note of all the others we see adding up miles on this road, we’re hesitant to admit we’ve trekked quite a few miles of our own. Tread marks to prove it.


Grace.


Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
Unrealistic expectations. Living in a fairy tale world of entitlement and selfishness. Sometimes the best way home is to get off the yellow brick road and help others we find along the way. Scarecrow or tin man anyone?


Humility and service…detours.


Highway to Hell
Disregard for others.
Apathy. Hatred. Two sides, same coin.
Full speed ahead, destroying every relationship we’re in.


Empathy and tearing down pride are exits off this highway.


Road to Nowhere
Living someone else’s dream. Lack of confidence in what God’s called us to. Lack of trust. Distracted living.


Abandoning fear, risking & trusting direct us to another lighted path.


And then there’s Jack Hitting the Road
Anger.


Surrender.


I’m thankful new paths are cleared for me every day. May I choose to take the first step toward the sunlight. And then keep walking in it.


*photo by flickr


Enjoy this:
Katie Herzig & Matthew Perryman Jones singing Where the Road Meets the Sun on YouTube










22 comments:

  1. Hopeful that I am on His path and that when I get swayed away He will lead me back. Hugs! :O)

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  2. Love this, Wendy! I especially love the yellow brick road analogy. Hope you had an awesome Easter!

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  3. Great analogies, Wendy. If we walk the road that meets the Son, we will always be on the right path. Thank you for sharing your insights. :)

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  4. This is fantastic, Wendy! Road to nowhere - not trusting God's calling for our lives. I'm always looking to let go of fear and trust He's leading me down the right road.

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  5. I absolutely love reading your comparisons, Wendy! Thank you.

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  6. Wonderful visuals!

    Often we're on the right road, but the bumps make us second guess ourselves.

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  7. Pretty sure I've gone down all these paths and thankfully been redirected. Beautiful words, Wendy!

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  8. Beautiful, as always.

    I've wandered a few of these paths before...

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  9. I love this post too! The on ramps to those bad roads are wide and inviting, and the exit ramps are narrow. :-)

    The road to perdition is especially scary to me. One good thing about the hard waiting time before I signed my contract is that it taught me some good habits of mind to help me *after* the contract. There are just as many opportunities after publication when one could be tempted to compare one's own journey to another author's and covet. That's a yawning sinkhole that can open right under my feet. I would quit writing completely before I allowed that to become my way of seeing life.

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  10. Wendy,

    Oh, I've been on several of these roads at different points. I'm terrified of the road to perdition and the road to nowhere. I long to walk the path HE has for me, and I cling to grace.

    Thanks for ALWAYS making me think. Love this post!

    Mel
    p.s. you came to mind the other day and I lifted you up. Trusting good things for you.

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  11. A great GET YOU THINKING post. I've been on most of those paths at one time or another.

    It's always good to look back and see how far you've come. I know I'm on the right path now.

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  12. Yep, I've been on a few of those myself. But just like you said, we are lucky because every day we get a chance to start walking on a different road. :)

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  13. I'm thankful for new paths cleared too. Lovely post. :)

    Glad you had a nice Easter!

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  14. Thankful for steps and paths that are ordered by Him. Good food for thought, as always. :)
    Blessings,
    Karen

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  15. Wendy:
    I liked the description of the diffferent paths. Sometimes young people don't realize they are going down the wrong one. It's a shame that some never choose to get off the wrong one.

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  16. Diane, Sometimes I'm afraid I'll miss the clues, as though they are breadcrumbs are something. Crazy, huh?

    Katie, God's been teaching me a lot about that one. Stop looking in. Look out. Look out.

    Lisa, This has been a complicated question for me...is there just one way. I've heard all kinds of Christians respond on this. And I'm still sifting. I just pray I'm leaving the roads that will do more damage than good.

    Heather, That's just it, I struggle with thinking there's one right and one wrong when maybe there are twelve different roads to choose from. Okay, I'm all philosophical tonight. Can't help it. These are the places I get stuck.

    Heidi, Thanks you. Cool that we traveled a road together and then laughed about being dropped off a bit too soon. ;)

    Susan, Ah ha! Bumps. Maybe that's what it is. Or callouses, blisters and such.

    Sarah, Been thinking a lot lately about what I allow to redirect me. Do I pay most attention to people, Biblical messages, how I feel after I pray...

    Erica, Liked your tips today. I tend to gravitate toward some of these roads more than others. Hoping I'll smarten up and stop walking on some.

    Rosslyn, Beautiful and dead-on description...the yawning sinkhole temptations! Excellent. Fed my thoughts. I am so thoroughly excited for you, it's hard to describe.

    Mel, I love company thinking. This crazy brain needs company. ;) I was moved how you wrote I came to mind and you lifted me up. I'm at a real point of deciding just how motivated I am and want to be. Means a lot!

    Loree, Man, I feel like I cut through the woods often. With some things I've learned and grown and with others I feel like constantly smacking my head and saying when will you get it.

    Ivana, Easter reminded me of the path-clearer...how He gave everything so I could choose differently. So disproportionately beautiful.

    Jennifer, Thanks. It really was meaningful and DD's hair chop didn't look too bad after all.

    Karen, And there's a whole other way to look at this...predestination. Wow, we won't even tap into that tonight.

    QS, I was one of those young people. And sadly, I've known a few older folk who've continued to walk a sad road. That's why I think I'm so in love with grace!

    I'm not sure you realize how much your comments inspire me and help me turn topics like this over in my brain. I thank you for piping. I'm all about movement on this blog. And I truly want to move in the direction He leads.

    I pray for you and for me that the lighted path becomes more and more the way we choose to go.

    Night.
    ~ Wendy

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  17. I think too that we sometimes change roads, change directions, retrace our steps. You make a really valid point when you open saying that there is always, always another path. So true.

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  18. You didn't include the road I've found myself on more times than I care to admit: Self-Doubt Drive. Turning to the Lord and sharing my struggles with close friends is how I get back on the path when I stray.

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  19. It does help me to dream when I think of the yellow brick road...
    great post
    xx

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  20. So many roads to avoid, sometimes it's hard to find the right one. Great analogies.

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  21. LOVED this song. Great path descriptions.

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  22. Hello Wendy, I found your blog via Kimberly's (Mining for Diamonds) and am enjoying reading what's here, mainly because like many others, I can relate well to the things you've described here.I'm thinking that water givers often take the shape of people God plants on our paths not only to refresh us at particular stops but also to point us to a better path.At times they even walk with us a while till we're ready to run again or until we've made that all important turn or detour. And no, no one is ever alone.He is with us always. :)

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