Today’s Question is kind of personal … What do you do when you give someone bad advice?
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Day Nine was interesting … Mountain tops … Ancient Groves … A Powerful Waterfall … Vampires and Werewolves. You read that right.
We awoke, had breakfast at the lodge cafe. We spent the day in Olympic National Park. Starting with hiking High Ridge Trail on Hurricane Ridge. The POV was tremendous. We saw the actual Mount Olympus and her glaciers. We traversed the trail up to the peak.
But on this peak, I made a mistake. This was the second such mistake I made on this road trip. Coming down the trail, a father/son hiking pair stopped to ask if the trail we were on was a specific trail. I said yes. But 20 minutes later, I realized I answered wrong.
OUCH.
This was the second time I gave misinformation on identifying a trail. And both times, it was only later I realized my error.
I felt bad, tormented even. Did I mess up someone’s vacation? Did they have limited time on the mountain and I put a wrench in their plans? If there had been a wall, I probably would’ve banged my head against it.
I started thinking of this on a deeper level – as a preacher, my thoughts went to pulpits and platforms. Have I ever given wrong advice or bad answers for people seeking answers? I know God is bigger than my frailties, but I also understand I am accountable. Doubly accountable actually.
It wasn’t intentional. It wasn’t life shattering. But it truly impacted me.
What did I do? I tried extra from this point on to not give bad advice. I learned from my errors and tried to avoid doing it again.
So, I focused on my wife and the remainder of the day. From Hurricane Ridge, we went to Sol Duc. I loved this. First, the trail of the Ancient Groves, a wonderful grove of centuries old Spruce. It was adjacent to the Sol Doc river, where Salmon return for their annual life cycle pilgrimage. We didn’t get to see the Salmon, but we saw their path (you can see them on YouTube if you like).
I found the Grove peaceful, calming, and addictive, Though the trail was about one mile, it was one of the best places I visited in the ONP. And that advise I would repeat to anyone,
From there we went to Soll Doc waterfall … forceful, beautiful, and still, calming.
But now … vampires. Well, we didn’t actually see vampires. Or werewolves. But we travelled to Forks, Washington. This town was made famous for it being the focus of Twilight universe. Bella. Edward, Jacob. A century long war. True Love.
We specifically planned this week for the previous week was Twilight Fest … a week of thousands gathering to celebrate and live in a fantasy world.
But this week – no fan fic fanatics around. We perused the shops, bought some gimmicky souvenirs, and explored a town that Hollywood changed forever.
Then we played the game of naming towns and places that were made famous by Hollywood …
Springfield with the Simpsons
South Fork with Dallas
Twin Peaks
And most importantly – Mount Airy (or you you plebs know it – Mayberry) … Mayberry is the hometown of my parents. But that’s for another day.
This was a wonderful day … wrapped up with a wonderful meal at Crescent Lake Lodge. Fresh and local Salmon … yummy.
We settled in, prepared for an early departure tomorrow morning, and enjoyed the lakeside view of the sunset.
My mind continued to ponder the bad advice I gave earlier in the day. Regrets could have dominated me, but I also focused on grace. God is a great God of grace. So I too need to remind myself He is that God of grace.
His mercy is new every morning. So tomorrow, it new.
I replicate the question …
What do you do when you give someone bad advice?
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