Thought for the Day - Journeys aren't always what they're cracked up to be

Mum came to visit and was mostly impressed. We managed to do several of the familiar things. But as usual the 'best laid plans of mice and men…', writes Rev Jon Bergen. Sign up to our weekly newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with an ad-lite subscription to AngusWorld, you get 70% fewer ads while viewing the news that matters to you. Subscription Offers Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Mum came to visit and was mostly impressed. We managed to do several of the familiar things. But as usual the 'best laid plans of mice and men…' Perhaps that is just the way of life. We set out on familiar roads, only to find we are unprepared for what goes wrong. The family arrived on the Tuesday night, might as well have been Wednesday morning as it was 12.30am by the time they exited the terminal. But a wee bit of a long lie later and we were ready to go sightseeing. First was a wee tour of our community and then it was time to drive up to Mount Morrell to see the fire watch tower. It is a lot of gravel logging road, nine miles from the paved road before you get to the turnoff to actually head up the mountain. Then another long bumpy nine miles to the top. Now the exciting part, besides the nine miles of road looking down on 400-foot drops with not a guardrail in sight the entire way. There had been some rain that washed rock down off the bank and made some rough bumps that in the end made a slightly loose battery cable pop off the terminal. A new to me truck, so I hadn't put a single tool to hand. Not quite the right plan. There I am 19 miles from the paved road on the top of a mountain, a loose cable and not a tool in sight. A foil gum wrapper in the bed of the truck, wedged into the clamp, gave a temporary fix. Then a stop to pick up a new cable end, only to discover a crack in the battery case. As bad as the story sounds, it was a good thing that the cable popped off, since Thursday morning the plan was to go to Glacier National Park, a 450-mile journey. Wouldn't have made it with a cracked battery. Perhaps that is just the way of life. We set out on familiar roads, only to find we are unprepared for what goes wrong. We make our plans but as the psalmist points out: 'The Lord shall preserve you from all evil; He shall preserve your soul. The Lord shall preserve your going out and your coming in From this time forth, and even forevermore.' (Psalm 121:7–8) God has a plan and will look out for His children. We find protection sometimes even in what goes awry.