The Path

by Kathie Fracaro

Away was the name of the cabin we rented but more appropriately it should have been named Really Away. Renting a cabin in the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee is like a box of chocolates-you never know what you are going to get or more importantly you never know what the road leading to the cabin is going to be like. When I describe the road to Away, I use the word “road” very loosely. The nearest description I could come to a “road” while still staying in the context of a passageway, would be a path. Other words that would be termed “used loosely” to describe the path would be “smooth, finished or safe.”

At the end of the path is a beautiful cabin, nestled on the side of a mountain. It is everything the Internet described: A two-story log cabin with all the amenities of home (plus a “dog room” for our dachshund, Daisy). Comfy and cozy in our “tucked away” little paradise, it would have been perfect if it had not been for the path.

Trudging up the little path that hugged the mountain there are no shoulders or railings. There are no warnings of another vehicle coming. There are grooves and ruts. You have to stay focused on the path ahead because losing your focus can easily throw you off course. You have to keep your eyes and your mind on the path ahead and your hands firmly on the wheel.

God is always there at his chalkboard of life, always between the lines, he teaches us. He put a cozy cabin at the end of a rigorous path to show us the path of life and what you need to do to get to heaven. He has a lesson at every crossroad, every intersection and every twist and turn of life. He directs our paths.

We had decided to take our Ford 350 pickup on the trip and I remember thanking God that we did, halfway up the path. I threw that in after asking him to forgive me of my sins and asking him to get us to our cabin safely. I did not breathe as steeper and steeper the path became and I was staring at the hood of the Ford as it pointed further and further upward. “I think we are at the end” my husband Ken said nervously, holding on to the steering wheel with both hands in a death grip “but I can’t see where to go next”. “I see something” I said as I pulled myself up to the dashboard peering over I could see three numbers carved on a board and in the foreground a roof. “That is it” I said, “That is our cabin, now just go slowly straight ahead.” Ken stepped down slowly on the gas and the truck came down even, no longer the hood jutting up in the air.

However, as we came down even on the path in front of our cabin we could not see the path ahead of us because as steep as the climb was getting to the cabin, the dissension was as deep. As we went over, neither of us breathing, Ken rode the brakes as we went straight down and landed somewhere in front of the cutest little mountain cabin ever. We sat for several minutes looking at each other and contemplating what we had just been through on our drive. The first thing I thought of is “ok now how do we get out?” The path was just plain scary and we knew we would have to travel it again.

We, as believers, know what lays ahead, our heavenly home with our Father and we know what we have to do to get there. We have to travel our path filled with potholes and ruts and grooves. We fight against temptations that try to throw us off. There are curves and sharp turns and we don’t know what awaits us around the bend.

In Proverbs 3:5-6 Jesus replied: Love the Lord your God with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight. How do we lean not on our own understanding but on God’s? To humble and admit to ourselves that we are not all that, to let God have control, to work in our lives, our thoughts and our actions. Ask God to open our minds to receive his direction, his thoughts. We have to acknowledge God. We have to die to ourselves and be born again.

We don’t have to worry about getting out of those deep holes we make in our lives. We have a father who we give our hand to, place our faith in and he pulls us out. What does he want from us in return? He wants our whole life, our focus, our thoughts, our prayers, our future, our path.

The Path I am talking about is the path you take when you give your life to Christ. The path may begin at the altar or in a lonely hotel room hundreds of miles from home. You are tired of living the life you have been living full of sadness, loneliness, anger and guilt. Nothing makes you happy. The new car, new house, new wife/husband, latest technological toy, even the 14-day Alaskan cruise gave you a temporary happiness but soon faded. The Promotion at work was too little too late. Tired of the endless days of the same people, same places, leaving you to ask daily, is this all there is? God sends someone along your path, a messenger, an angel, perhaps a good neighbor that knows what you are feeling because she/he has been there. They see the tiredness and the hopelessness in your eyes. You may take them up on their invitation to Church, or a bible study or just a one to one talk about what you are missing in your life. Maybe before now you would have turned or actually did turn them down because you knew they talked a lot about God and the bible. They are believers and go to church each Sunday and you really wanted no part of that. Except the day has come that you don’t know where else to turn, your life is a dead end. Nothing works. Maybe you should give that neighbor, that friend a chance and let them see God in you. I pray that you have a good mentor who will teach you and show you the INFALLIBLE word of Christ. I hope I will be a good mentor in getting you to find and stay focused on your Path to Christ. I can assure you that you will never be the same once you embark on your God-focused path.