Photo taken in Japan during the filming of a TV commercial in the ‘60s.
👉https://youtu.be/JMNM1Xat_4Y
It brings back vivid memories of the time when my heart almost stopped and stomach churned🤭😲—not so much from drinking the Japanese soft drink called Calpis (although it did have a unique taste🥛⁉️)—but from having been lost in the woods while playing hide-and-go-seek with my brothers. When they said, “Hide,” we were always pretty competitive as siblings and I thought to myself, ‘I’ll run over into the woods, they’ll never find me!’ Boy, was I right! I ran way too deeply into the forest and let’s just say, the boys couldn’t find me and man, I couldn’t find them! I was lost physically... and from all sense of direction. I tried the path that looked like it went straight back, but soon I’d hit an obstacle and found that I had been walking in circles. For a brief moment I felt helpless, terrified and alone. Every corner looked like a brand new maze of confusion. In my panic, I suddenly remembered my Mother telling me that we are never really alone in this life, that prayer keeps us connected and is a real power. That when I really needed help from heaven, to get on my knees and pray. Well, I didn’t get on them, I literally fell on my knees and did I ever pray! I thought to myself, ‘Heavenly Father, please, please help me find my brothers…’ I waited and it was like God said, “Really? Are you sure?" (I’m just teasing you!! I have a weird sense of humor. 🤣) What I did feel was this peace that came over me to get up and to walk to my left. Everything logical in my brain kept telling me that I should go the other way but I just kept following the feeling inside of my soul that I believe was coming directly from God, through the Holy Ghost. Finally, after what felt like a couple of hours but really was probably only several minutes, I saw a clearing and I could faintly hear my brothers voices as they played. I was so relieved and ran towards them.
This study shows it’s human nature to walk in circles when we are lost:
👉http://abcn.ws/2F4bnmZ
There are moments in life where the path is bright and perfectly clear until we hit thorns, thistles and dead ends. Sometimes, the wrong decision can have a major impact in the direction of our future, but choosing to taking the right turns can ultimately lead us back to our freedom.
I went into the forest to hide, but what I found that day in Japan was that the answers to our prayers do not only come while we're on our knees, but while we're on our feet or sitting and walking as well. My faith and trust in God led me out of the thicket and into the arms of my family members once again. I learned to follow the Spirit then and knew that God would never leave me or any of us lost or alone. He is our protector, the Father of our souls and He L❤️VES us unconditionally. Nothing we could ever do would change that love or make Him not want to communicate with us for help!!! We just need to make the effort to get on our knees and ask when we feel lost, or alone or when we are hurting or feel helpless and abandoned. I KNOW that if we have the faith in our ears to hear, and humble ourselves, our loving Father in heaven will always be always be there 😇 ready to guide us to safety.
My favorite scripture is:
“Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” (Proverbs 3:5-6)
So when life feels like it’s spinning out of our control 😞 if we will but ask God for help and exercise our faith in Him, He can redirect and lead us to a straight and clearer path. Sure, life is a MAZE but don’t just glaze over it. Allow yourself to be A-MAZED by His mercy and grace. 🙏 (Like I said I have a weird sense of humor! 🤣)
Happy Sunday! 🤭😘💋