The Parable of the Wide Load

We have been looking for learning opportunities with our kids and the Lord pretty much dropped one in my lap today.  We had to get to the dentist and, with the roads being less than ideal, we left a little early.  And found ourselves behind a very wide load (see above pic, sorry for the quality).  Someone was in the process of moving an entire house.  It was wider than the highway, so not only did opposing trafffic have to pull off and let it by, they had to stop whenever there was sign in the way and move it.

Very slooooooow....

Thinking we could possibly beat the house, we turned off and took a detour around the country mile block.  We felt pretty smart and smug.

Until we got to the highway again.

There sat the house completely obstructing our approach, and, to add salt to the wound, they were allowing all the traffic that had been following the chance to go around.

As we sat waiting I asked the kids what we could learn from this.

Patience was the big answer.

But we took it even further.

Sometimes in life you have to make choices regarding which path you are going to take.  Will you stay on the road you're on - the one that looks long and difficult, where the end is unsure?

Or will you take a detour on the road that appears to be faster, easier, the more sure thing.

Chances are it isn't all it's cracked up to be.  And here's the kicker - you generally end up right back where you started having only taken the scenic route.

And that, my friends, is now our family's "Parable of the Wide Load".

Hope it helps someone else more than it helped us today!