I walked into the Great Smoky Mountains alone that morning with elk on my mind.
The air was quiet, the forest still, and every step felt like I was moving deeper into a place where God often speaks without words. I had my camera ready, hoping for antlers in the mist or the powerful silhouette of an elk moving through the trees.
But sometimes the photograph you go looking for is not the one you are meant to find.
As I wandered through the forest, I looked up and stopped. Above me, the branches of an old tree twisted across the canopy. They bent, crossed, and turned in every direction, dark against the soft light of the leaves behind them.
In that moment, I saw more than a tree.
I saw life.
I thought about the road I have traveled, the broken hearts, the unexpected turns, the career paths I never saw coming, the doors that closed, and the new ones God opened when I least expected it.
Life is rarely a straight road. It twists. It bends. It changes without warning. Sometimes it feels confusing while you are walking it, but later you begin to see the beauty in the way it shaped you.
I went into the Smokies looking for elk.
Instead, I found a reminder that even the twisted roads can still lead somewhere beautiful.
I named this photograph “Route De La Vie,” the road of life.
