The cool morning air felt unusually refreshing for a late July day in Kansas. It was a perfect day to be out in the field searching for fossils. That is, once we were able to drive across the muddy fields to the beautiful gray and yellow outcrops of flood-made rock where the fossils were buried.

“Be careful not to drive in the ruts”, the ranch owner warned me, “It makes them deeper and hard to fix if you drive in them when they’re muddy”

As I drove the four-wheel drive vehicle over the rough terrain, careful to avoid the deep, muddy ruts, I thought about what the ranch owner had said.  It made me think of several lessons I could take away from the ruts.

Wyoming Ruts

The deep muddy ruts in Kansas reminded me of other, much deeper and much narrower ruts I had seen two years before in Wyoming.  Unlike the fresh, muddy ruts in Kansas, the Wyoming ruts were older and made in a much harder terrain.  These ruts were wagon ruts, made by pioneers traveling in their covered wagons on the Oregon Trail.

Compared to the “dirt-road-ruts” I was used to, these ruts were very narrow, made by wagon wheels instead of tires, and they got much deeper at some points. Some were as much as four feet deep!  Pioneer families would drive their covered wagons through these ruts.  The ride was most certainly a rough one. Children, women, men, and animals walked through and around these ruts, following the wagons that held everything they owned.

What are four things we learn from some old ruts in Wyoming and new ones in Kansas?

1. Ruts are Rough

I took off my shoes, walking barefoot through these Wyoming wagon ruts. The sandstone rock felt sharp to the feet. I could picture myself in the place of these pioneers. Perhaps they had walked so many miles that their shoes were already worn to pieces. Their feet might only be protected by rags tied around them.  The rough rocks would cut their feet and make them bleed. Perhaps it was winter time and the travelers walked over icy or snow-covered ruts. I stumbled once, lightly scraping my knee. How many times did pioneers stumble in these very same ruts?

That’s one thing about ruts – they are rough. Whether they are old or new all ruts have the potential to make you stumble, slide, bump, and get hurt. Even the smoothest-riding ruts are potentially hazardous.

2. Ruts Guide

On a positive note, ruts can give you direction and help keep you on-track.  If I didn’t have some type of trail in Kansas to remind me how to get out to the dig site, I would get lost quickly.  Some people who are very gifted with direction would know where they are going without any trails or ruts, but I am not one of those people.  I get distracted by scenery and my own thoughts just driving around town, let alone on a dig.  The downside is that the direction the ruts lead may not end up at your desired destination. In other words, the ruts can mislead you instead of lead you. If you rely on ruts or a trail for direction, it is essential to make sure that you’re on the right trail.

3. Ruts are Like Habits

So far we have talked about the positive and negative aspects of ruts. On the negative side, they can cause us to stumble and get hurt sometimes. On the positive side, they can help us stay on-track, but only if they go in the right direction.  Ruts, in and of themselves, are neither good or bad. It all depends on where the ruts are going. Our habits are like ruts.  Habits can be either good or bad, depending on the direction they lead. Take a look at your own habits today.

The more we exercise a habit, the deeper ruts they form.  That’s why it’s important to often take breaks and make sure the trail you’re on is going the way you want to go.   If you don’t take breaks to look ahead and behind, the ruts of those bad habits are going to get waist-deep like those from the covered wagons. It’s much easier to change directions in ruts that are shallow, not deep.

4. Formed While Soft

That brings us to one last, very interesting thing about ruts that I learned in Kansas. Soft mud can form deep ruts very quickly.  Try to picture that in your mind. Soft mud with a wheel pressing a lot of weight into it – it will definitely make a deep rut.  The same scientific principle can be applied to our habits. We form deeper habit-paths when we are softer and more mold-able. When are you soft and mold-able?

The first thing to come to my mind is that we are softest and easiest to mold when we are young.  If you’re young, keep in mind that the very best time to make good habit-paths is now – don’t put it off! Even if you aren’t young, there are other things that can make you soft and mold-able, like change. Good or bad, I’ve always found that one kind of change is the perfect opportunity for another change. Take advantage of a transition times to create new routines.

Softening Your Soil

You don’t have to wait to change your habits or attitudes until a new year, new job, or new house comes along, though.    The ultimate way to soften the soil of your heart and life is to ask God for help.  That’s one of the best things about being a follower of Christ – you don’t have to depend entirely on your own cleverness or hard work.  God is always with you and excited to help because He is a good Father.  When we recognize that we need to change our habit-paths, we can call on God and ask Him to make our hearts soft like a muddy road while He helps us get out of the bad ruts and form new, good ones.   That doesn’t mean it will be easy or fun – it will probably still take a lot of practice and patience, but you’re not stuck cleaning up this mess of muddy ruts by yourself.  Today is the best day to ask God to make your heart soft and show you the direction He wants you to go.

© 2018, Sara J. Mikkelson