Setting Aside

Whew! That was close. While searching recently with friends (5 seakers from Mt. Zion and all of us – 10 total), we were walking down a 1/3-mile path that went along a ledge next to Lake Shelbyville. To complicate things, we were trying to grab a cache quickly before a thunderstorm hit… You know what they say about best-laid plans.

The trip down the path was interesting. As I walked, while watching the Doppler on my Blackberry with the GPS unit around my neck and my left hand holding the hand of my youngest, I quickly realized the soil under my feet had been eroded. No, not the ground I was walking on, but the soil underneath the ground I was walking on. I made this realization not because I saw the erosion, but instead because the ground broke free under my foot. Yes, I was quickly forced to fall to my left knee as my right leg dangled off a 10 foot ledge.

Fortunately, I was able to give the hand of my 5 year old to my wife, sheath my Blackberry, ignore the GPS and climb back up to safety. Like I said, Whew!

But doesn’t that remind you of life? We see the storm brewing in the distance and miss the loose ground right in front of us. Sometimes it's the little things right in front of us, you know - life, that shakes us up just enough to make us realize we need to set some things aside (ok, NOT our kids) and regain our footing. But, sometimes we need to be proactive and set things aside before life shakes us up.

As far as the cache – we didn’t find it. As far as the storm – it found us. As far as the lesson… definitely a reminder to set some things aside and continue Discovering a Change of Pace.