Lessons from Mammoth Cave

You know its funny, I was out running the other day thinking of a new blog post, when I remembered our trip to Kentucky to the Mammoth Cave. You wonder why I would be thinking about a big dark cave..right? There is this one particular moment at the beginning of our tour, that most sticks out in my mind.

At the beginning of our lamplight tour, we stopped inside the beginning of the cave after we descended many feet of stairs into the cavernous pit. The lamplight tour was truly amazing. We carried lamps throughout the tour to give it a feel of what past generations had done in order to discover the many facets of the cave. When we came into the first room, there was benches there for us to sit on. As our tour guide spoke, he asked us to put out our lights. When we put those lamps out, I cannot begin to tell you the darkness we encountered. The tour guide asked us to wave our hands in front of our faces, and you couldn't see your hand in front of your own face. He asked us to be silent...the stillness was overwhelming...as was the darkness. You couldn't see anything and all you could hear was the hollowness of the rock surrounding you. When we relit our lamps, the feeling of warmth and safety entered the room again. Same room...same tour guide..same people surrounding us..same benches, the only difference was the light. The only difference is how we reacted ourselves to the darkness...and the light.

I realize that the above story about the Mammoth Cave is probably insignificant to you, but to me it means so much...it represents so much. Today we found out that my daughter will go into surgery in the morning. She is only going into an out patient procedure to remove her gall bladder. But the point of the lessons from Mammoth Cave comes into effect in times like these. Its those dark times that I am referring to. You see, there is still peace in the darkness. It takes faith to believe that light will shine again in the dark corners of our lives. How do we react to the darkness in our lives. How do we react to the light in our lives. Meaning how are we going to react to the good times and the bad times?

I was at work today feeling overwhelmed as it was a really crazy, busy day. Then to add to that, the doctors office called to tell me my daughter had gall stones. Then they called again to set up an appointment to consult with the surgeon. I became so overwhelmed, that I began to tear up while I was on the phone with my hubby. I said goodbye to my hubby,  just as a young man was coming up to the desk. He was signing in and noticed my distress. He didn't say anything, and I asked him my normal insurance information and confirmed his address and phone number, while trying to hide the tears in my eyes. I got his paperwork completed and took him back to the doctors room. When we got back there I asked him how his contacts were doing for him. I felt like that he really felt bad, and he could tell that I was smiling just because it was my job. He began to tell me that he spilled his pair of contacts on the sink and floor and when he picked them all up that he had 3 contact lenses instead of 2. I asked him where the third one came from, and he started to laugh and said he didn't know. He told me that he struggled for over 2 hours trying to figure out which contacts were the right ones and if he even had them in the right eyes! I laughed...he laughed...my lamp lit again. A small light appeared in the dark corner.

Just after that a five year old with the most amazing and beautiful hair that was so long and curly was standing with her mom in the billing area. I asked her where she got that beautiful hair and if my daughter could get that. I told her that my daughter was growing her hair out for a long time and was having trouble growing it long. She looks at me...sashays her hair back and says very seriously, " tell her to get into the bath tub, wash her hair and put conditioner in it...and wa-la!...she will have long hair!" I laughed...she made my light shine a little lighter today.

I know, I know..its only gall bladder surgery..but she is my little girl who has never had surgery before. I know that tonight I will  think about those "lamp lighters" in my life that God sent today. How much do we recognize them each day? Thanks to the lesson at Mammoth Cave, I appreciate the flames sent my way each day. Light up your world around you because you never know whose flame you will ignite even just little bit. A light that will appear in the dark corner of their lives.