Don't Look Back

My friend Char sent me this magnet this weekend. The second arrow which is harder to see says "No Longer An Option." It made me think, life changes in so many ways, doesn't it? We never know what twists and turns our paths will take. Some paths are straight and narrow, smooth and easy. Other paths are bumpy, rocky, even broken and dangerous, like a path I once hiked along side a canyon wall. I was so afraid of slipping and falling.
As I've gone through these months of fear and hope and then fear again with my sister as she has battled ovarian cancer, I'm reminded that we never know where life's paths will lead us. But one thing we know for certain. He who is able will never forsake us. He holds us in the grasp of his mighty hand, never letting us fall off that cliff.

I found this quote from Tony Snow. I wondered if he was facing his cancer when he said this. But it sums up pretty well the path I'm on right now, and maybe Judy's too.

"We want lives of simple, predictable ease—smooth, even trails as far as the eye can see—but God likes to go off-road. He provokes us with twists and turns. He places us in predicaments that seem to defy our endurance and comprehension—and yet don't. By his love and grace, we persevere. The challenges that make our hearts leap and stomachs churn invariably strengthen our faith and grant measures of wisdom and joy we would not experience otherwise."

-Tony Snow