Last night I had to take my youngest to a local emergency clinic because he was not coping well with a case of swimmers ear. As we drove there, I noticed a man on the side of the road. He was standing by his bicycle, which had a wagon full of stuff attached to it. He was wearing a reflective vest, which I thought was pretty smart. He was at the bottom of a steep hill and had to climb another to continue on his journey.
An hour later (miraculously, there was no wait at the clinic!), we were on our way home. The man had made little progress. I saw him pulling the wagon up the hill by hand; a bit beyond where he was (but still only halfway up the hill) was his bicycle, waiting for him. It was going to be a considerable amount of time before he completed the multiple stages of transport for his bike and all his gear. Beyond the crest of the hill, another hill awaited him, though that one was less steep. There was a sign on the back of the heavy wagon he was pulling. It read: Homeless Artist.
Something else awaited him beyond the crest of the hill. Something he could not possibly have anticipated: the county fair. It got me thinking. Sometimes, our journey can be grueling. It can take way more time and energy to travel short distances than we ever anticipated. Years can pass in which we feel like all we're doing is trying to climb the same stinking hill. The top feels a long way off, and we have no idea what we'll see when we get there. Will another, steeper hill greet us? There is no way to know.
But sometimes we climb and climb, because it's the only thing we can do, and at the top we are greeted by the truly unexpected.
6 comments:
Faith is believing that there is a county fair?
yep, Peaj--an awesome county fair that is just beyond this next hill;-)
I hope Homeless Artist got to enjoy some time at the county fair!
Peaj, one could say that faith is going to the county fair and letting your kids ride those rides...
I just meant that sometimes when the journey gets tough we can stop anticipating any surprise that doesn't just make things...worse. We can become well versed in unpleasant surprises and forget that sometimes God has something good up his sleeve. At least, that's happened to me. I'm just trying to remind myself that there may be something good at the top of this hill.
And Jess, yes, I too hope that Homeless Artist got to have a happy moment at the fair.
We can become well versed in unpleasant surprises and forget that sometimes God has something good up his sleeve.
Maybe. But I'm not hoping for it in this life. I mean, my life is pretty sweet, and far easier than for a lot of people. But the pleasant surprise that I am really looking forward to is at the end of all things. That will be amazing. The fair will stretch from horizon to horizon, and no one will ever get hurt on the rides.
You know what's funny? Darby apparently saw the homeless artist, too--she just told me a story about him last night and I was like how many Homeless Artists haul around a big cart in this area?!?! So that's twice I've heard about him from two different people!
Jess, that is weird...but not surprising. We saw him again this morning. He actually has two bikes with wagons. Needless to say, he isn't making quick progress.
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