Delayed does not mean dead.

We all hit our fair share of potholes in life. Some of these potholes will be nothing more than bump-minor inconveniences-while others will leave us broken and stranded on the side of the road. While it depends on who you ask, I am of the impression, that those moments of pause, racked though they may be with sobs and anger and despair, give us a gift-clarity.

It is in those moments of pause that we are able to look around and, for the first time in a long time, focus in on what we want, what is truly important, and notice the life that continues to happen all around us.

As one of my professors once said, "Pain is the gift nobody wants."

It is also my firm belief that God is more concerned with our character than He is with our convenience. We are admonished in the book of Ecclesiastes to understand that there is a time and season for everything; and in today's busy, sensory overload society, that means there is a time for delay.

I think we are so consumed with the idea that things have to happen now that we have lost the concept of what it means to be in the now. I'm not talking in the Buddhist sense of all-connectedness, but rather the true appreciation for all of life's moments and the lessons contained therein.

Perhaps you've hit a pothole and are sitting on the side of the road. Maybe you feel lost, angry, and confused. I want to encourage you to take heart; just because you are stopped does not mean that the road or your journey has come to an end. Take this time to gain what clarity you can; rest, reevaluate, and notice the life that is happening all around you.

Remember, delayed does not mean dead, the road at your feet goes on, and, just as there is time for the pause, eventually your life, eventually you will move on. Your car will be fixed and you can begin your journey anew; wiser and with more clarity than before. And who knows, you may end up in a place that is better than you could ever have imagined. Journey on, d

delayed does not mean dead.