Staying your path

I recently went on a road trip to pick up my son for spring break from college. Anyone who has ever travelled through southern Wyoming knows that any time of year on I-80 is a gamble, we actually spent 16 hours sleeping on it quite a few years ago, but that is another story. So as you can guess I am not particularly fond of it. I thought it was good and late in spring and would be able to sail through with no issues, yeah right! As we approached 15 miles or so before Laramie, the warning signs were lighting up “slick road conditions with low visibilty” we were thick into it and no turning back. Reduced speed and distance were my friends. I watched a semi right in front of me attempt to pass another semi and immediately go into twisting, jack knifing  and sliding all over, I still don’t know how he overcame this and was able to stay on the road. I was far enough back but if he slid off I would end up being hit by his trailer or having to maneuver my car to avoid hitting him, so very thankful for small miracles like that. As the conditions started to clear up I was saddened to see all of the MANY trucks that didn’t weather as well. I think we counted at least 8 that overturned and were in the middle of the interstate. I seriously had blisters on my fingers from holding my steering wheel so tight the entire time. After arriving to our hotel for the night I prayed that night with gratitude for arriving safely and for the return trip to have less of those conditions. As I lay in bed thinking about what we had seen and made it through that day I couldn’t help but relate it to our individual paths in life. The weather being our literal storms in life. The slow and steady pace that I was driving was doing what was right. The semi that started to lose its direction was someone who was tempted and overcame those temptations. Coming out of the storm and seeing the overturned trucks were those who had fallen off their pathways of life. The blisters on my hands were repentance and that sometimes you have to hold tight and it may hurt at times but in the long run it steered you back to the right path.  I couldn’t help think I had visualized what it must be like for our Heavenly Father watching over his children and how he must feel for each and everyone of us wether we are on the righteous path or temporarily fallen off.  I have driven back through that same area a few times since then and each time I try to see exactly where we were when the storm came upon us, but none of it looks the same to me with or without snow, so interesting.