Article December 15, 2008 Issue

MOUNTAINS, SNOWMOBILES, AND ANGELS

EVAN MEHLENBACHER

Last Christmas, my family and I were in the Blue Mountains in eastern Oregon, where we entertained several guests at our cabin. We've learned many spiritual lessons about God's care for our family on these cabin retreats, and this particular holiday season was no exception.

One day, my son and I took a friend out snowmobiling who had little experience on this kind of "sled," but enough that I didn't worry about his judgment calls. We zipped up to Ballon Tree Ridge, which is over 5,000 feet in elevation and has an eye-popping view of 70 miles or more. The plan was to spin around in some wide-open meadows.

As is my custom, I prayed for the safety of our group on the way, knowing that divine Love was watching over us, guiding and guarding our thoughts and actions. As if to test my conviction, though, within five minutes of reaching the ridge, I noticed our friend was venturing over into what was called "no man's land," a long sideslope of the canyon's edge. Our family was barred from going there because we knew that once over the edge, we wouldn't be able to get back up—at least not with our snowmobiles. It's down, down down all the way to the bottom of the canyon, and no one ever wanted to find out what happened if you slid that far.

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