How many times have I felt God leading me to do something and once I get the picture of the end goal, I run off and take my own path to get there? (Maybe that is why God often chooses not to show me the entire picture at once?) I am not trying to ignore God, I just get excited and run ahead. Trying to get to the goal as quickly as possible. It has taken me a long time to realize that the journey getting there is almost as important as getting to the finish line. Our "instant" society has taught us to hurry and get things done so that we can move on to something else. But in doing that, we miss so much. Often God is waiting to speak to us and teach us through the small things along the way. To bless us with things we wouldn't have dared to dream. He is just as interested in the smallest details of our life as He is the big ones.
My daddy was a master at enjoying the journey! And I DIDN"T appreciate it as a child. I remember one summer he decided we were going to take a family vacation to New England. We had talked as a family, and there were several places we all wanted to see. We went to Salem, Mass. and Stowe, Vermont. The Old Sturbridge Village in Massachusets and Fort Ticonderoga. We drove across New Hampshire (just to see the New England coastline), and we stayed one night in the Catskill Mountains of New York. We had a lot we do in one week!
Each evening we would talk about where we were heading the next day and about how long it would take us to get there. Then in the morning we would set out on the journey. But Daddy never took the direct route anywhere. Usually he tried to avoid the "road most traveled". In fact, he would often find the little back roads.The ones that were curvy and took forever! We would be driving along, and he would see a little shop that he thought might have interesting things inside, and we would stop. He never met a stranger. He would strike up a conversation with the shop owner and before long he knew all about that person and the area we were traveling through. We would finally be back on the road headed for the days "goal". But before long, it would get to be lunchtime and he would find a picturesque picnic area to stop at. Usually under the trees beside a quiet stream. Then we would have lunch and eventually be back on the road. I would get so frustrated because I just wanted to get to the end destination. But Daddy was enjoying the journey. We eventually got to where we had planned to go and enjoyed getting to see the sites. But along the way, Daddy had learned things the rest of us missed. Daddy had seen the beauty of people and of God's creation.
Enjoy today's journey!
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