“Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith.” (Heb 12:2 NIV)

Two years ago my family and I had the privilege of traveling to the beautiful province of Nova Scotia. One of the highlights of our trip was our visit to Cape Breton Highlands National Park, located on the northern portion of Cape Breton island. There were a variety of hiking trails to choose from within the park, twenty-eight to be exact. The only problem was, we only had two days to explore! We would have to choose our trails carefully to make sure we got to see the “best of the best”.

The description of one of the trails, the “Skyline” trail, immediately attracted our attention: “Watch for whales in the Gulf of St. Lawrence from the viewing decks. Moose, bald eagles, bears and numerous boreal birds live in this habitat.”

It was love at first sight: “We need to hike this one!” Insisted my wife.

My boys quickly jumped on the band wagon: “We want to see a moose!”

“Or maybe a bear,” added one.

For once, we were all in agreement, and since the best time to see wildlife is in the evening, and we planned our hike accordingly. When we arrived at the trailhead, however, we were faced with a new dilemma: There were two trails leading to the headland cliff overlook! One was about 3 kms long, and the other was almost double in length, at 5.7 kms. Which one should we take?

After looking at the map for a few minutes, we decided that the shorter one should be our choice, as it was better maintained and should be more feasible for our kids, who were only eight and ten at the time. In addition, we figured that a well-maintained trail would be an indication that it was more readily used by tourists and would give us a better opportunity to spot wildlife.

The trail was easy enough to follow. Most of the time we were walking on a boardwalk. Not wanting to scare off the animals, we tried to make the least amount of noise possible, and we proceeded slowly, constantly looking over our shoulders to not miss any wildlife. To our disappointment, however, the only living creatures to be seen (and felt!) were mosquitoes!

Half-way up the trail, one of my boys started to complain: “There aren’t any moose! I’m tired! Let’s go back to the car!”

We encouraged him to continue, telling him to keep watching, there had to be moose. But when we finally arrived at the lookout, we still hadn’t seen anything outside of the insect category.

The lookout itself was well worth the hike. We had a complete view of most of the Eastern Cabot trail winding around Cape Breton National Park. It was a bit cloudy and the sun’s rays reflected off different parts of the Bay of St. Lawrence. Birds flew overhead and the cars on the distant road looked like Hotwheels.

The view seemed to reinvigorate my boys. As we were heading back to the trail, my oldest one declared: “I want to go back the long way. Maybe we will have a better chance of seeing a moose!”

It seemed like a logical suggestion, but our eight year old was already spent. Could he hold up for another 5.7 kms? We gave them some other options, even suggesting that we split into two groups, one taking the boardwalk and the other one taking the longer route; but both were adamant. They wanted to take the long trail back! They wanted to see a moose!

“Don’t be disappointed if we don’t find one,” I cautioned.

Then, out of the mouth of babes came the following suggestion: “Let’s ask Jesus to show us a moose!” And my oldest immediately began to pray: “Dear Jesus, please help us to see a moose on the long trail! Amen.”

The boardwalks were now gone and the trail covered much rougher terrain. About two-thirds of the way back to the car, we noticed a group of people in the distance. They were obviously looking at something, and as we approached, we found ourselves nose to nose with a moose. It was a young one, and it didn’t seem afraid of us at all, for it stared directly at us as it methodically continued to chew its dinner. We didn’t move either, except to take some pictures, that is!

We must have stayed there for over half-an-hour, and we wished we could have stayed longer. Dusk was setting in, however, and we reluctantly moved on. A bit farther, we found a bull moose with a full set of antlers. We were doubly blessed! Before we got back to the car, we saw a total of five moose. We had been looking for moose in all the wrong places, but once on the right path, they were abundant.

How often in life don’t we make decisions, always being certain that we are making the right ones, only to find out later what a big mistake we’ve made! Our self-assuredness leads to dead-ends. Once in a while we are lucky, but most of the time we are greeted by disaster.

If we would rely less on ourselves and more on Jesus, what a different world it would be. Selfishness would soon evaporate and make room for dependence on the One who makes the real difference in our life. One quick prayer is all it takes most of the time to have divine guidance to our situation. One can never make a wrong decision when depending solely on Jesus. Why do we persist, then in trying to make our own decisions?

Look out for moose! Do you really want to see one?

Rob Chaffart