This piece was written on New Year’s Day 2010. I had to chuckle as I read back through it, thinking that the journey might have been almost over; it is now half way through 2012 and we are still on this journey with the Lord. He has often taken us off road over these five years to reveal the beauty that only He could have hidden in the midst of pain and difficulty. Praise my Heavenly Father for knowing what road was best for me!
Friday January 1st, 2010
Here we are Lord, and it’s another year. This coming May it will be three years since we stepped down from our position on our church staff. What a journey! We never would have planned this trip! When we set out we were in the driver’s seat; we knew exactly where we were going, or so we thought. What we didn’t count on were the detours, Mark’s depression, the diagnosis of a rare condition, selling our home, or the potholes- running after the secular work force to only have every door close- or the One Way streets– “Not my will but Thine be done.” Father, if only we’d consulted you- our spiritual GPS system- when we set out on this trip. Perhaps, if we had consulted you this long journey wouldn’t have been necessary. On second thought, it was necessary, wasn’t it? Father, you have shown us that the road we travel is more important than our final destination. The things we see, the things we experience and learn along the way-those matter to You.
On our way to Dallas in October the weather was really bad; there were a lot of wrecks. At one point the Highway Patrolman rerouted all the traffic off of Interstate 30 onto a two lane highway through southeastern Arkansas. It was
beautiful, even in the pouring rain. There were rolling hills, farms and huge trees along the road. All the beauty we saw that day would never have been seen or experienced if we had stayed on Interstate 30.
Father, You rerouted us almost three years ago. If You had not, we would have arrived at our destination and, oh, the beauty we would have missed. On the way to Dallas that day I learned something about southeastern Arkansas I had not known before; there was unexpected beauty there. But, we had to get off the interstate to discover that beauty. We had to take the off road and because we did, we experienced an unexpected enjoyment. It was there for us all along, but in order to experience it, we had to take the road less traveled. Father, thank you that just like the Highway Patrolman who set up the road block and redirected us, knowing what was best for us, You have known what was best for Mark and me. Lord, you chose this journey and because You redirected us, we know You in a way we would not have known you otherwise. I will never pass that section of Interstate 30 without remembering the beautiful stretch of highway we traveled that October day. If we had not been rerouted, we would not have known the beauty that lay therein.
Just as taking the two lane highway through southwestern Arkansas cost us additional travel time, this journey has taken longer than we ever dreamed or imagined. But, we have experienced You, Lord, in so many ways, and for that we are thankful. Thank you that You have chosen the highway and the final destination. How beautiful are your ways, O Lord. How much fun it is to share this journey with our family and friends and all the beauty we have seen along the way.
Father, You know the plans You have for us, to give us hope in the journey. Thank you that You can be trusted to lead us down the right road, one You have prepared specifically for us; one filled with blessings amidst the heartache and pain. Oh, the beauty You have revealed to us!
2 Samuel 22:31“As for God, his way is perfect.”
Job 23:10 “But he knows the way that I take, when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold.”
Isaiah 30:21“Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you saying, this is the way, walk in it.”
Deut. 2:7 “The Lord your God has blessed you in all the work of your hands, He has watched over your journey through this vast desert. These forty years the Lord your God has been with you and you have not lacked anything.”
dianne