Meandering

We love road trips. Our favorite type of vacation is driving around in the car. We may have an ultimate destination in mind or a scheduled stop at some point. But mostly we drive along the roads, seeing things we've never seen before, stopping when we choose to stop, looking for local unusual places to see or eat.

We like to travel the backroads. Interstates are great for getting somewhere fast. But the backroads are great for seeing the beautiful and the unusual. Pace is slower and the roadsides are often greener. We like driving through the small towns, even if we never stop in one. Something about that pace just seems more inviting (if you are not trying to get to a place at a certain time).

Sometimes we will just take a different road. "Go on an adventure," we say. Our motto is that if we get someplace where we can't continue, we can always turn around and go back to another route.

I'm learning that God is a more backroads traveler, too. In my spiritual journey, I want to jump on the interstate and drive straight there, no stops and no detours. That's my tendency. But those spiritual roads are rarely a smooth straight shot. In my spiritual adventure, I seem to weave through the countryside and travel at a much slower (than I think I should) pace.

But that's where the life really is. I discover so much more on those spiritual meanderings. I learn more about God and about myself, more dependence on Him and more growth for me.

At times I do hit a spiritual interstate and things move fast. But that usually happens only after I've stocked up and lived out life on those slower twists and turns. The backroads prepare me for those interstate bursts.

I'm not sure this all makes much sense. Maybe I've stretched a metaphor too far. But I am learning that--like many vacations--the joy in my spiritual journey comes in the traveling as much or more than arriving at the destination.