I grew up believing straight lines were the mark of a good man. In our family, rows in the garden had to be straight. Corn rows in the field had to line up. Even the lawn told a story, clean, even stripes that let the neighbors know you cared. And I learned early, if you want a straight row, you fix your eyes on a mark out ahead. Look back, and the line drifts.

That lesson has stuck with me through the years. You can only imagine my shock the day I came home and found my son had cut the grass in circles. The thing is, I’m sure the effects of the argument I had with my son that day lasted far longer than the circles in the grass. The grass grew out before the week passed.

Somewhere along life’s journey I noticed something else. I once heard about a university that didn’t put in sidewalks right away. They let the students walk the campus first. Over time, paths formed naturally in the grass, curved, uneven, sometimes surprising. Only then did they lay the sidewalks… right where people were already walking.

They weren’t straight. But they were honest. And they worked.

It made me stop and think. Because life doesn’t always move in straight rows.

People wander.
We hesitate.
We circle back.
We take the long way around.

And yet… over time, something forms. A path. A pattern. A direction.

Maybe the lesson isn’t choosing one or the other.

Maybe it’s knowing when to hold the line and when to go around the tree instead of cutting it down. Maybe the boulder in front of you needs to be navigated, not blown up. It’s in knowing when a straight line is the way to go and when the diagonal cow path is the best choice.

Either way, the words of Jesus hold true.

Jesus said, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.” (Luke 9:62 ESV)

That’s a call to focus. To direction. To purpose.

But He also walked with people who didn’t move in straight lines, fishermen, tax collectors, doubters, wanderers. And somehow, under His guidance, their lives formed a path. In one of the last conversations with his followers before his trial and crucifixion, he said, “…I am the way…” He is the path that leads home to the Father. 

So maybe this is the takeaway:

Keep your eyes on the mark. We are being moved forward. We don’t live life in reverse. But don’t be surprised if the path God forms in your life isn’t perfectly straight.

Because sometimes…

The path is real before it’s refined.

Blessings,
Jarvis… from soil to soul