Ask God to guide and direct your path

April is a busy month, the new year is beginning to age, spring has sprung, and as the school year nears an end; young folk tend to anticipate what life has in store for them in the coming days. 

I was young once, though it’s been a spell, but I have recollections of the promises, dreams, and hopes that share space with the doubts, fears, and uncertainties, that cloud a youngster’s heart and mind. This is a time in life when circumstances play a major role in determining the future. If by chance you are fortunate enough to have the combined support of family, church, and community, you probably have been given the right set of tools to guide you toward a successful future.

 If these are not something that you have been blessed with, then your road will be tougher. However, many young people develop a drive and determination to succeed in life because they are endowed with a dream and a grit to survive! 

Whichever group a young person belongs to, they can strive to reach success. And slowly but surely, they will overcome obstacles that appear along the way. They tend to do the things that bolster their self-esteem, and they choose the path that helps them do what is right. It has been my observation that life’s trials and tribulations are more easily overcome if a person realizes that there is a helping hand that comes with a belief in the saving Grace of God. 

If you ask God to guide and direct your path, you will find that the path to your destination can be smoother. Yes, I know that sometimes people make the wrong choice and drift down a sinful path, but even that path can be corrected if you will hand the reins over to our Lord and ask Him to take control. I think that is what this poem says.

Just Ridin’

It was a dry wind, an’ some cold,

You hunkered an’ pulled yore hat down tight,

Them troubles life throwed was plumb bold,

An’ well… you was riled up to fight!

You pull up on the marge of Black Lake,

An’ stare down at that mirrored scene,

You’d took about all you could take,

An’ yore thoughts try to turn you mean.

Many a time, life can shore be tough,

Sorta comin’ from all directions,

‘Til you get to thinkin’ that’s enough,

As you stare at yore reflection.

That time when you sat a hoss back,

On a far ridge way out yonder,

Where you found it hard to get on track,

An’ it caused yore mind to wander.

Yore thoughts would flitter to an’ fro,

Like some sparrows in a tree,

About a lot of things that you know,

Some, you would just as soon let be!

Back then the magnitude of life,

Sat on yore shoulders like a stone,

Weighted you down with all that strife,

An’ all the fears you’d ever known.

So you up an’ wonders why God,

Brought you to this point in yore life,

‘Course, the mystery warn’t so odd,

As the answer cut through like a knife.

Aww, I reckon there’d still be doubts,

‘Cuz you won’t turn loose for a spell,

Truth is, yore like all them young sprouts,

Fightin’ it ‘til yore doubts dispel.

Time will come when you see the light,

An’ you’ll figger a better way,

Ask the Lord to help with yore sight,

An’ help guide you every day.

You took yore hat from off yore head,

An’ then you set right in to pray,

Why you could feel them troubles shed,

As the Good Lord cleared yore way.

‘Cuz that ol’ world that you could see,

There betwixed yore ponies ears,

Would sorta set yore troubles free,

An’ shore relieve yore fears.

‘Cuz you could feel the comforting touch,

Of the Good Lord in yore heart,

Sweepin’ away troubles an’ such,

Showin’ you how to make a new start.

Then you just shook loose of them chains,

That seemed to hold you there in place,

An’ light would blot out the dark the pains,

An’ you stood ready to run that race!

Then you slowly come to realize,

As yore thoughts wrangled themselves back in line,

You had already found life’s prize,

Brought on by the Lord’s own design.

Well now, that sorta made you grin,

Life’s mystery was yours just to sieze,

As you rode God’s range free of sin,

with a good pony between yore knees. 

My Ol’ Daddy would say, “It ain’t right to do nothing, when something should be done!”

God Bless each of you and God Bless America!