road trip

Google "open road" and you will find millions of photos just like this one.  I love these photos.  Maybe it's cliche, but I love this as a metaphor for life.  An open road outstretched before you, just waiting, begging to be traveled.  Anyone who has been on a road trip can tell you that the beauty of it lies not in reaching your destination but rather in the journey that got you there.  For example, my friend Mary Elaine went on a sort of country music pilgrimage during our junior year of college.  And sure, Nashville and Memphis were exciting destinations to visit, but what truly made the trip fun and worthwhile was the travelling in between and the random adventures to places like Loretta Lynn's childhood home (yes, the cabin on a hill in Butcher Hollow).  I digress, but I think you get the point.  

Lately I've been thinking a lot about what I will do after Mercy Ships.  I've been trying to discern what the Lord has planned for me--where His road will lead.  Part of me wants to fast-forward and just be there, wherever "there" is.  But then I would probably just have an "Okay, so now what?" attitude and I would have missed the road trip itself.  

Psalm 119:35 is on a bookmark, tacked to the wall, in the common area of my cabin.  "Direct me in the path of your commands, for there I find delight." [NIV].  I see this every morning as I put my watch on and grab my water bottle.  Like so many other things in life, I have become accustomed to seeing this verse, so much so that it practically lost its meaning.  The pastor at my church in DC once explained that we need to be refreshed from time to time, to gain a new perspective.  One simple suggestion he had was to check out a different version of the Bible.  Lately, I've been using The Message, which puts things into really practical language.  And wouldn't you know it, this verse's passage is chock full of road trip language!  

Barricade the road that goes Nowhere;
      grace me with your clear revelation.
   I choose the true road to Somewhere,
      I post your road signs at every curve and corner.
   I grasp and cling to whatever you tell me;
      God, don't let me down!
   I'll run the course you lay out for me
      if you'll just show me how.
God, teach me lessons for living

      so I can stay the course.
   Give me insight so I can do what you tell me—
      my whole life one long, obedient response. 
   Guide me down the road of your commandments;
      I love traveling this freeway!
   Give me a bent for your words of wisdom,
      and not for piling up loot.
   Divert my eyes from toys and trinkets,
      invigorate me on the pilgrim way.
   Affirm your promises to me—
      promises made to all who fear you.
   Deflect the harsh words of my critics—
      but what you say is always so good.
   See how hungry I am for your counsel;
      preserve my life through your righteous ways!

Psalm 119:29-40, The Message (emphasis added)

You can check out Psalm 119 in it's entirety HERE.  It's long but so full of praise, pleading, and fervent language that you can't walk away uninspired.

I'm not sure what else to say that wouldn't end in an ultimate cheese-fest (like "Enjoy the journey of life!"), so  I will just say good night and thanks for reading :)