Unexpected Detours

After returning from NYC, my training has taken an unexpected detour on the flu bypass. Just about everyone in the family is taking a turn on the detour and it has forced us to modify our Christmas plans. Usually we host extended family at our house, but this year things will be different--a quiet time with just our family. Our typical Christmas Eve dinner is being scaled back to items that we can all keep down. It will all be just a bit different.

It occurs to me that this whole season, for some of those who were originally involved, celebrates an unexpected detour. Mary did not anticipate the visit from the angel and Joseph did not expect a pregnancy announcement from his betrothed. For all of the emphasis that the church puts on this season, the Bible only devotes four chapters--Matthew 1 and 2, and Luke 1 and 2.

There are two approaches to a detour: (1) lament the inconvenience, or (2) embrace the difference (in some way). As with big waves in the Gulf, sometimes it is better to let it wash over you than to fight against the inevitable. Ever wonder what would have happened if Mary had said, "No thank you"? Or if Joseph had abandoned Mary in the face of her incredible announcement? Hard to imagine, isn't it? Perhaps the key to the outcome of a life detour is the attitude that we take in approaching the detour?

None of us is immune. Who among us predicted the economic conditions we now find ourselves in? Maybe business has not been as good as you had hoped or had been promised? Health that seemed so secure now is failing. All detours. Is it wrong to fight to make things "right?" I don't think so. But sometimes the fight is nothing more than beating your head against a rock.

Did Mary and Joseph ever wonder whether they had done the right thing? Did they ever wonder how their lives may have been different had they chosen differently? We will never know. What we do know is that they drive the detour all the way to the end.

Why is this hard for some people? Perhaps it has its roots in what we often tell our kids about their futures--you can do/be anything you want if you just put your mind to it. We are trying to be encouraging, but it simply isn't true. Each of us is constrained by limitations of time, money, size, education, opportunity, and we cannot be someone who we are not. No amount of "setting my mind to it" would have ever made me well-suited for an NBA career. I wonder if we would better serve our kids (and ourselves) by figuring out who God has made us to be--our talents, passions, skill set--and maximize that. Then maybe we will be better able to accept our limitations. Not giving up, but walking that fine line between dreams and reality.

Press On.