Two things on Saturday caught my attention, and in my current self-absorbed way led me to thinking about (my) life.

I was feeling pretty accomplished on Saturday morning – I’d woken early (despite a late night watching the Olympics opening ceremony), made it to a friend’s house by 8am to help bake 200 cookies for a wedding, ran some errands and then managed to jump start the truck. Having driven around the neigbourhood for a while, I came home, turned it off and then restarted it. Yes, I can fix things…I can get some help (in the case, jump leads)…but then I can use the tools I have to get things going again…back on the right track…self sufficient…moving forward…(you get the gist!).

So, I drove off to an estate sale I’d noticed thinking that they might have a bookcase or desk that I’m needing. Sadly all the furniture they had was sold, and even then, none of it would have worked. Not to worry, I ran into a new friend and we had a good chat before going our separate ways. Then I went back to the truck, and it would barely turn over as I tried to start it. Wow, that juice ran out quickly…the indicator had shown the battery to be at full power and I’d been relieved that it was a quick and easy fix.

Ah, yeah, quick and easy isn’t always the long term fix. And there’s that dreaded time again…moving from trucks to life…I feel like I’ve done A LOT of work – digging, trying to understand, setting new thought patterns in motion. Surely I’m ready now for new adventures, my heart is healed, I’ve got it…and yet, I may have some peaks where I’m doing good, but the underlying emptiness is still there – this season is still “draining my battery” so to speak. It’s gonna take more than a quick jump start to get me through the every day stops and starts. I’m going to keep the jump leads around for a while!

Later in the day I was driving to church to help set up for a wedding of two dear friends. I was excited to celebrate the day with them, and that, combined with tasks to do and some new good friends got me through what was at times a hard day. Nothing like a wedding to remind you that once upon a time you were there…and then in your case things fell apart. Anyways, with the truck fiasco I was running late, but as I was driving and checking my wing mirrors, I noticed I had a little friend (he seemed to resemble a praying mantis) clinging on to the mirror. He made it the 14mile drive, which included some fast interstate driving. Sometimes in life you just have to hold on I guess! Later when I went back out to the car, he’d jumped on over to the other side, but by the time I headed home, after the storms, he was long gone…and I realized I’d not taken the picture I’d meant to. The journey continues…