So I finally did it. I stepped away from routine, threw caution to the wind and fled, leaving my home state and a whole lot of junior humans to spend time with my beautiful bride and two remaining children who were able to go on an extended adventure. We kind of knew what lied ahead, but there were so many details we hadn’t arranged, question marks far exceeded exclamation points when we considered the next 6 days.
We started out kind of rough with the sticktuitivenss of work holding on even while my poor wife was scurrying around the house trying to get us out the door. But with the sending of a PDF file, the heavens opened and the familiar white dashes of the interstate highway and the blurring of pine trees whisking by wrestled my focus away from the intangible. The road noise quickly became hypnotic and my family all slipped into soft slumber, enabling me to unplug from just about everything. That startled me a bit, because my mind is usually saturated with all things work and family…my mind is always moving. But here I was, zooming northwestward on a highway with only crunchy trail mix and a glorious Mountain Dew to make sure I too didn’t succumb to sleep. Beyond that, the blank, quietness of my mind was soothing. It was kind of surreal.
And then He showed up. Right there in the middle of North Carolina’s I77 corridor, I heard from Him. I’m ashamed to say it wasn’t me who initiated the conversation, but His gentle Voice targeted my lack of thoughts, shifting my focus from nothingness to where it hadn’t truly been in a while. Kind of sad, really.
But, one thing about my God is He thankfully doesn’t dwell on the regrets of the past, but instead meets me where I am to gather my soul to Him once again. And so for the next almost hour as we traversed the rest of North Carolina into Virginia, He and I had a quiet conversation catching up on things. Whereas I thought the nothingness was comfortable and soothing, I quickly rediscovered the joy His Presence brings no matter the shade of darkness I was discussing with Him. Yes, I said “rediscovered”…not cool, huh?
We ended up having to stop for gas and then our vehicle was brought to life with conversations and aggravations…you know, the things that always define family trips? But, in those previous moments, I knew this was not only going to be a bit of mental and physical respite, but spiritual as well.
More to come…
Landon <><
