Psalm 145:5 – I will meditate on the glorious splendour of Your majesty, and on Your wondrous works. (NKJV)

Last year, our family summer vacation took us to the Rocky Mountains in Canada. I had visited this area by train about 25 years before. I was very excited to be going this time with my husband and two sons. We flew to Calgary and then picked up our rental car.

Our first day took us to Banff. This had been one of my favourite places the last time I had gone there, so I was very excited to be sharing it with my family. As we drove into the town, I noticed the mountain towering before me, but it was not as I had remembered. I was silently disappointed. As we visited the town, I was concerned that the places we were going to visit would not be as I had remembered, and I would be disappointed in them as well. I did not share this with my family, as they were very much enjoying all the sights before them.

When we were done for the day, we all climbed back into the car for the short drive to our hotel. As my husband turned the car around to go the other way, it was then that the mountain that I remembered stood before me in all its splendour and glory. The last time I had come to Banff, it was on the train. This time it was by car, and so I had mistaken the mountain I had first seen on this trip for the one I thought I had remembered. In fact, there are two mountains — and depending on how one comes into the town, one faces one or the other.

As I reflected back on this, I was not disappointed again, as my focus shifted that day into one of praising the Lord for this earth and all its glory. It really doesn’t matter how we view things, as long as we view them with the Lord at our side. How many times do we get turned around in life and need pointing back towards the Lord? It is so easy to make mistakes, but it is what we do with those mistakes that will make a difference in this world. We never need to be disappointed in the Lord and all that He has to offer us.

I now have a picture of the mountain that I remembered on my computer as background, and each day as I turn my computer on, I am again reminded as to where I need to focus my day and my life.

Prayer: Dear Lord, thank You that You are the solid rock in our lives. We need only to turn our lives and thoughts over to You for grace and mercy. Help us to keep our focus on You and on bringing the lives of others into a relationship with You. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.

Julie Bowles julieanni@rogers.com