Are We There Yet?

I remember some of our vacations as a child.  We would usually go down to the Mississippi Gulf Coast for a week. From where we lived it was about a 3 hour trip. 3 hours doesn't sound like a long time, but to a child it can seem like an eternity!  3 hours of anticipation can make it seem like 12 hours! Finally we would get there and somehow it seemed worth the long trek. Back then I didn't care about the journey. I just wanted to get there. "Are we there yet?" To me vacation didn't begin until I could run out of the motel room and cannonball into the pool! Even as a young man I didn't care for the trip. I just wanted to hit the road and stop only when we got there...no matter how far it was. But something happened to me at some point.  I can't pinpoint it exactly, but it happened some time after I passed 40 years of age!

To me now, the journey is just as much fun as the whole vacation. Instead of barreling down the interstate (we won't discuss the speeds), Connie and I simply love taking the back roads, taking pictures, and taking in the sights. We've learned that the journey is just as much a part of the trip...and just as much fun.  Somewhere along the journey of life I started liking the slower, back roads of travel. 

Life itself is a journey. We are constantly moving forward through time. Life around us continually changes as well as the bodies we live in. Life is less like a series of snapshots and more like a video! It is ever changing. I have learned that those days gone by are just that...gone by. You can't live them again. But you can still enjoy the journey (the present). You are on a journey right now. Your destination is God's awesome plan, purpose, and destiny for your life. You may feel like you're in a holding pattern or like you're going nowhere at the present. But you are. Enjoy the journey. Enjoy today, because once it's gone, it's gone.

Finally, we have learned in our travels that a much better question is..."Can we slow down and enjoy the journey?"