This little story is helping me to understand my current situation...
Once upon a summer Matt and I got from Portland to Montana. You can draw your own connections, I have drawn many...
California was a ton of fun, everything was beautiful, everything was new, we were high on adventure and hadn't started to get on each other's nerves... then we hit Oregon. Again a beautiful state, but we realized that we were starting to spend a lot of money. (Something neither one of us like to do)... alittle frustration... In Portland we refreshed by attending a gathering of the Imago Dei community. It was just what we needed. We left encouraged and hyped up on caffine and Jesus. We drove for a while, but got distracted by several beautiful waterfalls...
We didn't plan much on this trip, but this day we decided to make it all the way to the Jackson, Wyoming so that we could have a whole day in the National Parks. This required us to drive across Idaho in daylight and into the mountains of WY when it was pitch black. We found a KOA park (more expensive than we wanted), and got there around 2:30AM only to pitch our tent with out turning any lights on.
The next morning we were off for our adventure, we stopped for breakfast to realize that I had rushed Matt into leaving his wallet on the top of the van. Thankfully it was still there after driving 5 miles down the road. After a delicious breakfast (Matt's french toast was better than my buscuits and gravy, but he shared :0) we were on our way.
The Grand Teton's: Our destination... hiked, froliced, noticed beauty, relaxed. Yellowstone: Destination #2: We were a bit disappointed, got in a bit of a tiff, then we saw Buffaloes, Bears, Deer, Mountain Goats, and Free Range Cows and entered the most beutiful part of our entire trip. Highway 212... a surprise! Delighted we soaked it all in...
My lessons:
**There is tension in the journey**
**We needed to refresh in order to make it through the next steps**
**We faced choices and were blessed with surprises!**
Specfically:
1) We could have saved anxiety and $$ if we had planned.
2) We got to have an adventure because we didn't plan.
3) We had to choose where we wanted to spend our time.
4) We had to cross boring terrian in order to get to our "Grand" destination.
5) Sometimes we pitch our tent in the dark and hope for the best.
6) We were surprised because the best part of the journey was when we were leaving our "destination".
So, what does all this mean? Life... School... Faith... Trust...
What do you think?
9 comments:
Number 5... Incredible.
Traci,
great realizations. a lot to learn. most people don't take the time to learn form stuff like this. honestly, i feel like this could be in a book. Thanks!!!
I will not comment on number 5 which could possibly distract form the beauty of your post.
I think Shannon lives on Number 5.
Wow. Did my wife just write that?
I pointed her to Urban Dictionary, and she was shocked to find out what I was referencing. I was somewhat pleased when she said, "I've never heard of that. Who says that?".
Comment on the rest of the post...
It's good. I think I may go on my own roadtrip because of this post.
i think # 1 deserves some attention.
love,
the mother
p.s. i think you should write your own devotional book with pictures.. call it.. Spiritual lessons on a road trip or something like that... i think it could be a best seller!!.. make sure you put in pictures of waterfalls and buffalo!! love, mom
you could give Corey and jason a 'guest' spot and they could stick in some cheetah thoughts!!
p.s. i was kidding in my last post... i'm glad you and Matt take the opportunity to be spontaeous. it's a good break and a fun example for the rest of us!!
i am laughing really hard at the smiths right now
still laughing
i think kevin from the office would be laughing too
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