Guide Dogs Beware

On Monday I had the extreme pleasure of going to London to meet up with a friend for coffee. The said friend has a wonderful guide dog called Hugo the relevance of this information will soon become clear. Due to the vagaries of the train pricing system and my eagerness to save £10 by being able to buy an off-peak ticket I used the line that goes into St Pancras. I had been told by a friend that it is easy to get to Elephant and Castle (my destination) using the Thames Link overground so for a change I thought I would dispense with the Northern line and give it a go. All was well and a jumped on said Thames Link train only to quickly discover that I was on the wrong one – not a problem though because I simply went to Blackfriars where a very helpful underground person pointed me in the right direction and I made my way to the Embankment to get the connection. By this time I was late and I don’t do late so I was getting frustrated with myself. As I was fighting my way along the platform I suddenly noticed Hugo at the other end. My immediate reaction was one of relief that they were held up too so I pushed through the crowds with more urgency and as I approached Hugo I threw my arms around him saying with great enthusiasm “Hugo, you’ve found me!” There I was in full hug mode when a voice from above said “madam, he is working!!” In my haste to greet Hugo I had not noticed that this particular specimen of guide dog was attached to an older gentleman, with a grey beard. I extricated myself in a sort of ridiculous stoop and hurried on my way. I then continued my journey with a silly grin on my face and was soon able to greet the real thing. I can not believe there is a Hugo look alike in London!!

What have I learnt – several things… look to see who is attached to the guide dog before you throw your arms around it. also and probably more importantly God is saying to me that I need to keep my eyes on His bigger picture. It is all to easy for me to focus on what is getting my attention by what life is throwing at me and loose sight of what is around me. Also it is really important that I keep my eyes fixed on God – that is where my faith depends.

I simply ask God to equip me with the grace to do just that.