Rambling paths

The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood

And sorry I could not travel both and be one traveler.

Long I stood and looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth.

Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim

Because it was grassy and wanted wear, but as for that

The passing there had worn them really about the same.

And both that morning equally lay

in leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day, but knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted that I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

somewhere ages and ages hence.

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,

I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.

I was with some friends over the last few days. The husband was from New York. He teaches in Odessa, Texas. His story takes him from the city to upstate New York to Florida to Texas on two different occasions. He hasn't always been a teacher. He's only done that for 13 years. He used to run a water park, an RV park, a hotel, and many more jobs. His wife grew up in New Jersey. Her story to get to Texas is equally as fascinating. She's from Italian stock, so has a colorful upbringing. They're moving to Austin in the fall.

My own story covers just as much ground. I have lived in Denton, Texas; Grand Prairie, Texas; Riverton, Wyoming; Olympia, Washington; Abilene, Texas; DeSoto, Texas; Arlington, Texas; Dallas, Texas; and Midland, Texas. The upbringing and jobs are just as colorful as my friends.

Whenever I talk of trusting the Maker with the big picture, I'm talking about just what Robert Frost's poem is about—way leading to way. How my friends and I ever met is just an example of how He juggles everyone's paths, not just the paths of the three of us. How can paths intersect at just the right moments or just the wrong moments? But, I'm not in the control tower of watching people's lives. I can't even see the flight path of the one I'm on except in retrospect. And, I'm not sure that looking back is with 20/20 vision anymore. We forget too many details.

So, I'm with Frost. "Way leads on to way, I doubt that I should ever come back." So, here's to the future path. I'm along for the ride. It's really navigated by the Maker.