Two turtles crossing the road hit each other head on and were both knocked unconscious. The policeman who was summoned to investigate the accident tried to find a witness, but only found a snail nearby. "Did you see the accident?" the officer asked. "Can you tell me what happened?" "Yes, I saw it, "replied the snail, "but it all happened so fast!"

I like that joke because it describes how I feel about my life thus far: it has flown by, which is kind of ironic since a lot of the time it seemed painfully slow: Will I ever graduate? Will I ever figure out what I want to be when I grow up? Will this kid ever get potty trained? Am I ever going to find a job? Life is a never-ending series of slow waits, at least mine is.

Maybe that's why I relate so much to turtles, because I'm slow, too. That's kind of what my story is about - the slow journey of leaving the safety and security of my shell. It's an ongoing journey, by the way.

We all long for that safe and secure shell, a place where we can run from our problems, hide from the truth, avoid the people that have hurt us and find rest for our weary soul. In the shell nobody knows our weaknesses, our fears never come to light and we can pretend that we're just fine, thank you- really, we are. Sometimes the hurt and rejection we experience is so traumatic that we retreat into our shells for good; once that happens, it's pretty difficult to re-engage with life.

Here's the problem with camping out in your shell: with no fresh air circulating, the place starts to get a little rank. Unless you eke out a little hole, it gets pretty dark, too. And lonely. The scary part is that after a while you can get used to it and not even realize what you're missing.

Do you have a hiding place - a person, a habit, your work? Are you intent on protecting your vulnerable areas? What are you facing? Maybe you feel like you're holding the world on your back and your legs are feeling weary - maybe underneath that tough exterior you're hiding a broken heart.

You may think you're hiding in your shell, but if you're reading this, you're not really hiding - you're seeking. Here's the good news: Seek and ye shall find.

YOU HAVE A CHOICE! You can stay in your shell and become a shell or you can come out of the darkness. You can experience true freedom: freedom from sin, freedom from addiction, freedom from fear. And not just freedom from things - freedom TO - to know God, to love, to change.

The only hiding place you'll ever need is in His presence.