Several weeks ago, we were driving back home after a week of vacation near Monterey, CA. It was at the peak of the wildflower super bloom, so we planned our drive accordingly and chose a route through the Carrizo Plain National Monument. Besides wildflowers, we noted the odd salt lake called Soda Lake. We stopped to get a closer view, and as we ventured out onto the vast dry, white lake bed we overheard someone say “Be careful, last year I lost my flip-flop in this very spot.” What looked like solid ground became softer and softer the further we ventured out beyond the shoreline. He had walked out into the spongy, white sand just a little too far and was barely able to make it back to solid ground.
No one likes to get stuck. Losing your flip flop in Soda Lake is one thing. But it is so easy to get stuck in life as well. We get stuck in difficult circumstances. We get stuck in our relationships. We get stuck in destructive habits. We get stuck financially. While there seems to be no limit to the number of ways we can become stuck, there are 5 lies that tend to keep us stuck. As we identify and then remove the particular lie that is keeping us stuck, we break free and begin to get moving again.
Getting stuck means we have gone down a path that doesn’t work, we have made a wrong turn, the information we have does not lead to the place we expected. We are trying to wade out into the treacherous salt bed of lies without losing our flip-flops or worse.
In the message series starting this Sunday, we will be considering the 5 lies that get us stuck in life. The kids and youth will also be learning about these lies in their time together. This series was originally developed as a way to help parents teach their kids how to get unstuck from the lies that cripple and sideline us. I am looking forward to hooking up the tow truck of truth so that we will be equipped at all ages to get unstuck.
We enjoyed our wildflower adventure. It is amazing that such beauty and such whispered danger could coexist at the Carrizo Plain National Monument. A colorful field of innocent beauty right next to a dry lake bed of potential lost flip-flops or worse. This is so much like our lives. We have to find the truth, otherwise, we just might find that we are sinking in lies, wondering why each step is so difficult.
We love this beautiful state we live in. Sometimes we wonder why we would ever travel anywhere else. So much beauty in just one state! But we will definitely be careful when we navigate salt lakes. Stick to the truth and keep an eye on what we are standing on!
