June 19, 2019
12/06/19 19:57
Greetings!
My sainted husband and I were on one of our many road trips. This one was to parts unknown as we were going somewhere we had never been before. But undirectional road trips are not unusual for us. When we were first married, young and free and pretty foolish most of the time, it was a normal occurrence to just jump into the car or truck and go somewhere for a day or two - somewhere we had never been that was within driving distance of where we lived. It was fun and educational and exciting as we often never knew what we might find.
Then when we had kids we would take a Saturday now and then and each child in turn would give us a direction and we would just head that way and see where we would end up. We got to see some pretty nifty sights that way since at each fork in the road we would ask a child, right or left, and depending on what they said we would go that way - sometimes ending up in some really interesting and sometime some really bizarre, locations!
We rarely went on Interstates or even 4-lane roads and fortunately we lived in an area where there were plenty of back roads and side roads. Usually we would draw the line at gravel roads - although occasionally we did get rather adventurous and go on a gravel road….. humming the ‘Deliverance’ tune as we ventured into some pretty isolated and strange looking areas.
The positive result of all of this adventurous traveling did lead to some fascinating sightings - the deer on the side of the road with a bandana tied neatly around his neck like she was getting ready to go somewhere special; the 4-way stop signs at an intersection on top of a mountain at least 6 or 7 miles from any type of civilization on a gravel road; the scary time we stopped at a store on the side of the road to get a beverage and a snack and realized it was a KKK product store; there were more equally peculiar spectacles.
Well I could go on…. but these little trips were a lot of fun and somewhat educational and allowed the children (and us for that matter) to see things they would have never seen or experienced had we not had the ‘which direction do you want to go’ Saturdays. Sometimes we would even make an overnight excursion of these child led journeys and really travel far afield.
But then as the children grew older and started to be involved in various activities and multitudinous sporting activities and happenings with school friends, these ‘which direction do you want to go’ journeys became fewer and fewer. Our weekend driving trips became more designated driving trips as we had to go to specific places in order for children to participate in their sporting activities.
And while we still got to go to some new places, our weekends were less about exploring and learning and being surprised by what we may come across and more about ‘we need to be here in this place by this time so we can warm up for the game’…… It is just not as alluring to have to be at a certain location by a certain time than it is to just twist and turn and wander.
Maybe that is why some of the mystery and majesty surrounding our God is missing. We have so boxed God into specific times and specific places. Oh we can say, “I know God is everywhere” but in our thinking, God is in that building we go to every Sunday morning and too often God just stays there when we leave and go on our merry way to our own activities and our own lives.
Instead of allowing the wonder of God to lead us out of our buildings and into the world around us, we keep God ‘where God belongs’ in the ‘church’. But think what great adventures we could have if we really listen to what God tells us, and believe the promises of God to always be with us, and allow God to guide our steps and our pathways.
Imagine the wonder our lives will take if we truly let God be the one who leads us on the journey of our lives!!
My sainted husband and I were on one of our many road trips. This one was to parts unknown as we were going somewhere we had never been before. But undirectional road trips are not unusual for us. When we were first married, young and free and pretty foolish most of the time, it was a normal occurrence to just jump into the car or truck and go somewhere for a day or two - somewhere we had never been that was within driving distance of where we lived. It was fun and educational and exciting as we often never knew what we might find.
Then when we had kids we would take a Saturday now and then and each child in turn would give us a direction and we would just head that way and see where we would end up. We got to see some pretty nifty sights that way since at each fork in the road we would ask a child, right or left, and depending on what they said we would go that way - sometimes ending up in some really interesting and sometime some really bizarre, locations!
We rarely went on Interstates or even 4-lane roads and fortunately we lived in an area where there were plenty of back roads and side roads. Usually we would draw the line at gravel roads - although occasionally we did get rather adventurous and go on a gravel road….. humming the ‘Deliverance’ tune as we ventured into some pretty isolated and strange looking areas.
The positive result of all of this adventurous traveling did lead to some fascinating sightings - the deer on the side of the road with a bandana tied neatly around his neck like she was getting ready to go somewhere special; the 4-way stop signs at an intersection on top of a mountain at least 6 or 7 miles from any type of civilization on a gravel road; the scary time we stopped at a store on the side of the road to get a beverage and a snack and realized it was a KKK product store; there were more equally peculiar spectacles.
Well I could go on…. but these little trips were a lot of fun and somewhat educational and allowed the children (and us for that matter) to see things they would have never seen or experienced had we not had the ‘which direction do you want to go’ Saturdays. Sometimes we would even make an overnight excursion of these child led journeys and really travel far afield.
But then as the children grew older and started to be involved in various activities and multitudinous sporting activities and happenings with school friends, these ‘which direction do you want to go’ journeys became fewer and fewer. Our weekend driving trips became more designated driving trips as we had to go to specific places in order for children to participate in their sporting activities.
And while we still got to go to some new places, our weekends were less about exploring and learning and being surprised by what we may come across and more about ‘we need to be here in this place by this time so we can warm up for the game’…… It is just not as alluring to have to be at a certain location by a certain time than it is to just twist and turn and wander.
Maybe that is why some of the mystery and majesty surrounding our God is missing. We have so boxed God into specific times and specific places. Oh we can say, “I know God is everywhere” but in our thinking, God is in that building we go to every Sunday morning and too often God just stays there when we leave and go on our merry way to our own activities and our own lives.
Instead of allowing the wonder of God to lead us out of our buildings and into the world around us, we keep God ‘where God belongs’ in the ‘church’. But think what great adventures we could have if we really listen to what God tells us, and believe the promises of God to always be with us, and allow God to guide our steps and our pathways.
Imagine the wonder our lives will take if we truly let God be the one who leads us on the journey of our lives!!