Finding The Way Out Of A Trap

Our exchange of words was brief but significant. It was clearly a case of mistaken identity.

The young woman behind the counter was chirpy as she greeted me. "Good morning! And where is your little grandson today?" Embarrassment crept over her face when I told her she must have me confused with someone else.

"But I really am old enough to have grandchildren," I assured her. Still, she discretely demurred. "No, you really can't be that old." "Well, 56 is plenty old... but no grandchildren yet."

"Then I guess you are old enough," she admitted. "My daughter is four, and Mom was 50 when she became a grandmother." She hardly looked 20 herself, but the wear and worry beneath her smile hinted otherwise.

Just to put her at ease, I continued to spout grandmother trivia while she assembled my order. "My wife's grandmother was a grandmother at 32 and a great-grandmother at 48." Though surprised, she wasn't shocked. "They married young in those days," she confided in a low voice. "But couples today may not marry at all--and still have children."

Hot tears swelled in her eyes, compelling her to unexpectedly avert my gaze. "That's what happened to me. I can't even talk about it without crying." I didn't know whether her reference was to her daughter or to the child she was obviously carrying.

My mind raced. How should I respond in the few remaining seconds before she'd have to serve the next person in line? There was no time nor need for a sermon or moral lecture. Her tears spoke for her heart--and her hurt.

I quickly recited the first Bible verses that came to mind: "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight."

Her countenance instantly brightened. "Wait just a minute," she begged, and scurried away momentarily to fetch a scrap of paper. "Please write that down for me." I jotted the reference (Proverbs 3:5-6). Did she have a Bible? "No," she sighed, "but Mom does." She promised to find it and read the verses later.

The growing line demanded her attention, but she thanked me as I walked away.

She had obviously taken some crooked paths in life, paths that had led her into unexpected suffering and sorrow. Following her own desires had trapped her in a blind alley with all its exits blocked.

But tucked away in her pocket was a scrap of paper with a scribbled escape route, a treasure map where "x" marks the spot. Though the unintended consequences of her choices are irreversible, she's not compelled to stick to the crooked path, falling time and again into the same miserable potholes.

Paths can be straightened. The scrap of paper is her map--and "x" marks the spot.

Copyright 2002 James McAlister

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