From the recordings Arizona Moon and Been There, Done That!
A long time ago, I had the opportunity to listen to an inspirational speaker who had a handicapped child. I don't remember her name, but something she said has always stuck with me: She compared having a handicapped child to dreaming all her life of traveling to Paris...then finally purchasing tickets only to find upon arrival to the airport that those tickets were to Holland instead. She didn't get to go to Paris, but had this not happened, she would have never experienced the wonder and beauty of Holland. I was at a personal low while visiting a friend in Arizona. He took me sightseeing a little. We got a late start on our evening together and had to skip something we had planned to see, but as we drove around a corner on a hill, I came face to face with an absolutely gorgeous moon that literally took my breath away. If we had been able to follow our original plan for the evening, we would have missed the moon. Sometimes our lives don't turn out like we plan. Like the mother of that handicapped child, instead of dwelling on what we don't have, we can choose to appreciate the beauty and goodness of the unexpected pathways we take.
Lyrics
Headin' home on a lonesome desert highway,
Tryin' to run from thoughts I didn't want to think but thought of anyway.
The twisted roads I'd traveled didn't match the map I thought I knew so well.
And I had lost my bearings--I was tired and hopeless when the first tear fell.
It was then I saw the moon
Rising like a jewel, oh...
Chorus:
Up from the horizon in this barren, rocky place
It took my breath away.
Opalescent colors with the brightness of a pearl
Shone down to light my world.
I turned around then, on that lonesome desert highway.
No more runnin--gonna face my fears and watch 'em melt away!
In my rear view mirror, I could see my inspiration glowin' white.
And though my path was different, I knew, somehow, that my future would be bright.
Cause I had seen the moon
Rising like a jewel, oh...
Chorus:
And had I not been on that lonesome desert highway,
I would have missed the moon.