A friend of a friend who has been on a road trip of this size gave us some advice:
Have a sense of humor.
Have a plan, but be flexible.
Turns out our very first day gave us plenty of opportunity to test this out. We had our plan! And it involved leaving our house around 6am, getting to Nashville for lunch to meet with the folks over at The Contributor, and having a few hours to explore the city. A good friend who used to live there gave us a list of some sweet spots to scope out. I couldn’t wait!
However, Friday morning came and we found ourselves with a good bit still to do before leaving, plus a few unexpected hiccups. One was my getting suddenly so sick I barely made it to the bathroom; another, Isaac having a lamp fall and shatter on his head. We had to suction the little shards of glass that were all over his scalp and skin with a vacuum hose. There may have been a breakdown or two that day…
10 hours later than planned, we left, a little discouraged to have missed our Nashville window but still rejoicing. We get to go on an adventure, and just like in life, a trip is going to have lots of surprises along the way. We know we’re going to have some amazing moments, and some not so perfect moments, but as Matt said to me, joy is always ours for the taking if we choose it.
And he’s so right. I can’t say this wasn’t challenged in my heart when two hours after driving we realized I had left an important bag at home (Lana!)... but right at that moment we saw the most beautiful rainbow I’ve seen maybe ever. We all stared at it in silent amazement, then Isaac said, “I think it’s a sign from God.”
Yep.
I’ve got you. Let go and let Me.
So, letting loose of any expectations other than the expectation of the promises of God. He is with us. Joy is ours. He is working on our behalf. He is faithful. And all of this is working together for our good. We didn’t get our day in Nashville but we got a fun stop for coffee there. And the place, Barista Parlor, was amazing (thanks Kyle!). One of the best pour overs I’ve ever had.
And you know a place has to be special if they have a whole table dedicated to chocolate bars.
Now we're on our way to visit friends in Branson, MO tonight! We will stay with them for the next 2 days before heading to visit IHOP in Kansas City. Traveling mercies, as my grandma would always say, are definitely with us! Kids are enjoying the traveling games and books on tape, and earlier as we were driving through the mountains I was thanking God that He makes our feet like hind’s feet on the high places, and we literally saw a deer on a high cliff on the side of the highway! It was majestic and incredible.
Thanks for reading. You back home are missed. And you we’re coming to, we can’t wait to see.