Roadkill

So this morning as I was getting the kids ready for school, I let the dog out as usual, and as usual, he started barking at something.  He is ALWAYS barking at something! Anyway, after attempting to ignore him for awhile, I decided to bring him in, but first looked out to see what he was barking at this time. To my surprise there was a dead opossum in the middle of the road.  I decided that rather than wait to see if another neighbor would pick it up, I'd get my shovel and scoop him up before he was flattened.  Plus it would give my kids the opportunity to see one up close.....dead, but still up close which is probably something they wouldn't have alot of chances to do.  They weren't quite as intrigued by the type of animal it was as they were the fact that he had blood coming out of his mouth, but it was a learning experience nonetheless.

I successfully discarded the animal in the field, got my kids off to school and then came back inside to enjoy the rest of my coffee before I started my day.  The whole concept of "roadkill" got me thinking......  It's been kind of a rough month or so for me.  Alot of heavy things weighing on my mind.  Big decisions we had to plow through.  A friendship that unfortunately had reached the end of the road.  Mistakes that I've made and tried to correct.  Really the list could go on....just a heavy month.  In the course of life you pretty much go about it the best that you can.  Trying to keep up with the craziness and still have a positive attitude.  Managing relationships with as much integrity as possible.  Mending the broken fences that our words cause from time to time.  And still, you can just be going along minding your own business and WHAM!! You're roadkill.  Thankfully roadkill in this metaphor doesn't mean you died, but at times it feels like it.  The things life can throw at us can feel like there will be no coming back from it.  When you have tried your best to rectify situations only to find they're worse.  Or an unexpected illness comes into the picture.  Job loss.  Marraige problems.  False accusations.  Etc, etc.... the point I'm trying to get at is that life is not predictable.  It is anything but, however it's unpredictability is what makes us flexible, and our reaction to the unpredictability is what makes us strong.  I'm sure that poor possum had no idea when he went out for a stroll last night that he was going to be hit with.....well, whatever he was hit with.  Life is a little the same way; unpredictable and at times, very unexpected.

May God give us the grace we need when faced with those "roadkill" moments in life, to get back up, dust ourselves off, and allow the experience to make us stronger and more flexible than before we tried to cross that road.