Leave the Tracks

Today I walked into work and there were tracks all through the office. Red clay footprints starting in the kitchen leading down the hallway. It was an easy fix. I just grabbed the vacuum cleaner and made them disappear.

Those were easily erased but you can leave tracks that won't go away. In Hollywood, a star who has made a substantial mark on the entertainment world are generally invited to leave their mark in concrete at Grauman's Chinese Theatre.

Sometimes when people are laying concrete they will put their hand, their child's hand, or even their pet's paws in the wet concrete to leave a mark. After I bought my townhome, my son and I ripped up the existing carpet so new carpet could be installed. While the carpet was up and the bare concrete exposed, someone told us to write messages on it.

We listened and wrote scriptures and signed our names on the concrete. It was fun to leave our mark before it was covered by carpet. A few years later a CAT-5 hurricane ripped through our town and tried to collapse our home, but it stood. I've wondered if it had anything to do with those scriptures we wrote under our carpet.

Leaving your mark can be done in large ways or small ways but I've learned people are watching. If we're strong through a trial they mark that in their minds. When their trial comes, because they always do, they reference back to the way we handled ours and follow suit.

There will always be moments to doubt whether we matter, whether we are leaving tracks in this world. But when we keep going through pressing adversity tracks are set as though in concrete. Someone will see your tenacity. Someone will gain strength or inspiration from it. Yeah, you matter and so do your tracks!