Our family each Summer goes to Edisto Beach , South Carolina...about 45 minutes outside of Charleston , SC . If you are looking for an action packed, tons of activities type of vacation with shopping and lots of restaurants...then this is NOT the place to go . Edisto is a very quiet, calm , small island that is slow-paced but perfect for families and singles and couples, everyone..who like the simpler things of life. I go for many power walks around the island , town area...and I had something so darned cool happen to me this Summer...that I had to write about it.
It was about 7 AM in the morning, I take off with headphones on , of course wearing shorts and something very cool as it was July in the South , hot and humid . Around the condos that we stay at there is a large sidewalk that goes for a few miles, then you head into the island neighborhoods. The sidewalk is almost smack next to the street ( about two feet ), the main street leading into there. It is a bit unnerving to walk there because if a car veered only a few feet...then big-time ouch or Hello God here I am.
My little boy and me about to go for a beach walk at Edisto Beach
Well , as I am rounding a bend...to my amazement , to my right ...about 20 feet from me...is a large deer. I was really stunned. I am at a beach , not in the forest somewhere. She had just run out of the woods area ( a small area of trees )...and was going to cross the sidewalk in front of me to go across the road to more woods area, near a marshland.
I froze, she froze, ( no horns so I am guessing she is a she).
I then looked in front of me...down the road, then behind me ...down the road...no one around. We just both stood there...not moving...I definitely was not intimidating to her like I am to UPS employees when I ship things...but she was still uncertain what to do. So the Mom came out in me.
Safety First !
Safety First !
No, this was not the deer, this was a stuffed version at our State Fair ! No horns on my girl.
I looked again up and down the road...then I told her to go ahead. I then used one arm , and said gently , " Go ahead ." She just kept looking at me with these gigantic beautiful eyes, she moved or jerked for a second...then nothing. I then said a little louder, and now with both arms, told her ," Go ahead, you can cross..go on, go on , it's Ok. "
Now you many be thinking...dumb woman is talking to a deer. But since no one ever said I couldn't talk to a deer, I had no problem doing it.
Then lo and behold, after my last gesture, she looked at me again...and leaped..I mean LEAPED across the road ! It was so exciting, and I knew I had a big smile on my face when I heard some voices behind me. It was a couple that had just come around the bend , and they were laughing and smiling too. The man said " I can't believe I saw what you just did and the deer ran. "
I told them I was concerned about her safety, and in that same spot the morning before I had seen a large hawk...even closer to me than she was.
I felt like Snow White , ready for birds, butterflies and squirrels to start following me .
( I really did).
My little boy showing the sunset
As I kept walking that morning, I immediately thought about how we are like that deer , always on the brink..the edge, the precipice, the border , the threshold...of something important in life. How we want to hear God say, " Go ahead..it's OK to go ahead. ". Especially when we are uncertain what he wants us to do in a circumstance or with an opportunity. If only we could see God, waving His arms in a direction and saying .." This way, go this way. " Then we would know for SURE.
Oftentimes though we are at the edge or brink of something...our toes are right on the edge...hanging on tight...and we wait and delay , procrastinate...or never do. I pray so much for God to help me take that leap, take that risk for His Glory , not for mine, but His. I also pray for Him to show me when NOT to do something , to step back from the edge...to rein me in. This imperfect Christian woman needs a lot of reining in...but I know for a fact God is perfect for that job.
I hope you have a moment of delight this week , I hope something happens to you that it makes you think of God...as soon as it happens.
Many blessings,
Gina
" The voice of one crying in the wilderness ; " Prepare the way of the LORD; Make His paths straight. " Matthew 3:3
