If a frog had wings

Barbra Streisand sang it best, “…if we had the chance to do it all again, tell me would we? Could we?” From the sound track of the movie “The Way We Were” who hasn’t imagined the possibility of doing it all over again, to step back into those photographs hanging on the walls of our homes, to hear the voice of a loved one no longer on earth, to relive, to change…oh the possibilities, if only.

Today is one of those days for me. We all have them. Days when we long to return to what could’ve been, should’ve been, would’ve been… if only.

My grandmother used to say, “If a frog had wings he wouldn’t hit his butt when he jumped.” The image of such brought laughter to me as a child. My brother Lindsey often replied, “but Mama Dolly he doesn’t.”

“Exactly…” she answered. Responding to our confused expressions, Mama Dolly would lean close to our ears and whisper, “If a frog had wings, he wouldn’t be a frog.”

Hart recently turned 15 and once again I have a live-in chauffeur. For me it is such a treat not to have to drive. As a mother of six, I have been a taxi cab service for quite awhile with no fare. When she first started, I would often remind her about the side mirrors and rear view mirror, “Glance in your mirrors off and on so that you know what’s behind you but keep your eyes on the road ahead.”

The more memories we have behind us, the more likely to look back and wonder if only we’d made this decision…if only we’d taken this turn, said these words, joined this group…if only we’d been in this place and not that place…but then we wouldn’t be who we are. Every experience, good or bad, imprints our souls to create the people we are today. And today’s experiences will impact the people we are becoming.

Psalm 16: 11, “You have made known to me the path of life…” 

My son Ben works as a raft guide during college breaks to earn some extra money. Truth be known, if he didn’t get paid, he would still do it because of his love of nature and adventure. To those in his raft, the currents and rocks are unknown and can be frightening but Ben knows how to navigate the river in such a way as to give his customers the best ride. I often imagine God as the guide of my life in the same way. Sometimes the rapids are rough but He knows the river and while I might think I’m going to flip over (and sometimes I do), He will always rescue me. The more difficult a current He gets me through, the easier it is to rely on Him the next level of rapid.

Memories are our rear view mirrors, they serve to give us glances of the past, reminders of where we’ve been; however, to move forward, we have to keep our eyes on the road ahead. And if we had the chance to do it all over again? We wouldn’t be frogs. We wouldn’t be who we are.

Charles Kettering, inventor of the incubator for premature infants, freon for air-conditioners, and head researcher for GM, wrote, “My interest is in the future because I am going to spend the rest of my life there.”

“I have set the Lord always before me. Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.” Psalm 16:8