Reflections 1/13/2020: Well, yesterday I decided that my knee was ready for a back-country trail. I’d been prepping it with paved trails for the past week with good results. Between watching other mountain bikers head off for adventures, and eyeballing the dryness of the trail I could see, it seemed like “all stations go!” I wanted to pick an easy route so as not to challenge my knee too much, so the North Hogback trail it was! (A favorite on my horse Calley years ago!) Sure enough, the snow had melted and dried up enough to navigate well and leave no tracks. Then I crested a hill and found myself encased in mud. And not just your everyday brown stuff, but the red-clay-glue kind! Not only was I leaving unwanted tracks, but I was being gobbled up in the guck! (Poor Paracleta was plastered into immobility!) So off I climbed and on foot sloughed her clumsily through the muddy mile to dryer ground. So much for well thought out plans to protect my knee… and the trails.😐 I guess life is like that Lord. Unexpected bogs. Guck. Plans gone bad. As I study the book of Acts, I see Paul, even as he passionately pursued his missionary endeavors, getting beat up, not just by mankind, but also by the elements of nature… things well within Your control, God, to smooth out for him. But You didn’t. You did revive him miraculously from stonings, drownings, (and even poisonous snake bites!), but why allow him to go through that at all? Maybe to impassion his purpose even more… and give us incredibly powerful words from his mouth and pen. Words soaked in blood, sweat and tears! Words that encourage me today, 2000 years later as I hit my mudholes and plans gone awry! So thank you Paul for blazing a trail for us! And capturing your struggles in written words that proclaim, “God is faithful,” even when life becomes a muddy mess!