Have you ever really wanted something but it kept slipping away? Kept being just out of reach? Kept getting postponed and delayed? Welcome to my Badlands lesson I learned. See an old dog can learn … never mind how old.
I wanted to go earlier. I had plans, time off, lodge reservations, permission from my wife. But no. Stuff happens. One time weather. Another time circumstances changed. And so on. You understand. But I made it. And even this time I did it with a twinge of guilt.
You see, this time I had a mental battle … one side saying, “GO!” Get out there and experience God’s creation. Scratch an item off your bucket list. The other side, and oh so sweet a side, said, “NO!” Spend that time with your kids and grandson. You see them so rarely. You’re a bad grandpapadude if you don’t stay with them! Ugh. What to do.
So I met in the middle. I went to Fort Worth. Took my Father-in-Law’s stuff down, met my wife at the airport (who flew with her dad down) and still spent some quality time with the inheritance seekers (the jokes on them, I have very little inheritance to seek.) oh how sweet to share quality time.
Then I left two days early and headed back to Virginia by way of South Dakota (not the straightest route for sure.) Even then, I had to miss a few things I wanted to do in SD. I missed Rushmore. The Badlands lodge was closed for the season. Didn’t see the Windy Cave NP (they closed the trail down that day any way) and couldn’t hang around long for a major ice storm was coming through the next day. So I even had to skip Wall Drug Store.
But … I did it. Time with the kids. Experienced the Badlands.
I am not a super strong advocate for ‘follow your heart’ mentality. Our hearts are pretty rotten and they can mislead us a lot. A LOT. But this was a good desire. God’s creation is majestic. And that creation declares His glory.
But I had to fight for this … fight the battle within. Fight the battle of competing demands. Fight guilt.
In Lord of the Rings, Samwise looks to his closest of friends and encourages him with these words … “There’s some good in this world, Mr. Frodo., and it’s worth fighting for.”
The glory of God. The truth of the Word. Righteous living. Completely sold out devotion to God. The marriage covenant before the Lord. Biblical justice. Raising our children before the Lord … Fight hard!
We fight over such trivial things today. Such trivial things. So, choose your battles. And make sure they are worth fighting for.
One last reminder. The battles that are worth fighting are those that the Battle is the Lord’s. I kind of think many of our battles might not mean much to Him. But I’ll save that for another day.
Fight. On, but fight for that which is worthy.
Muddy Shoes by Todd 
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