The Long Drive Home

I’ve come to the conclusion that Snow is beautiful. You might wonder why it took me this long in my life to reach this conclusion. Well, it didn’t. I have really known that since I was a little boy. But I guess these last three days, being stuck down at the Delta training center working and then staying at a hotel, the snow didn’t look beautiful. It just looked like an obstacle to keep me from being at home next to my fire sitting in my rocker. But tonight I am sitting by the fire listening to Jesus Culture writing. Now, when I look outside, the snow is beautiful.

Isn’t that the way life is? To one person, snow is just an obstacle and they can’t see the beauty, but to a young boy of girl, when they look at the same snow they see adventure, beauty, freedom (no school) and fun. No wonder Jesus told us that unless we came as children we couldn’t enter the Kingdom of God. We miss so much of life when we just look at things as obstacles keeping us from our destination. Too often I find myself so intent on reaching my destination that I don’t see the pleasure and excitement in the little things that happen along the way. They become obstacles instead of objects that Papa put before me to show me His beauty and His greatness. We in the church are way to serious. One of my friends from school reminded me just the other day “Seriousness is NOT a fruit of the Spirit.” I have to be reminded of that periodically. Otherwise I am afraid that I would miss so much.

This afternoon I made the long drive through the snow back up to my house from the training center. It is 48 miles, and I did very well. I think that I made it in an hour and a half. All weekend I have been dreading the drive in the snow and ice. Normally I wouldn’t have minded as much, but I was in the Miata. My Envoy is in the shop. Now I love the Miata, especially on a spring day. But it is not built to drive in snow and ice. It is too light, has rear wheel drive and is too low to the ground. But I knew when I went down on Sunday that I would have to drive it home. I really thought that the conditions on the road would be much better than they are. As the week progressed I got more concerned about driving it. I had taken every precaution that I could. I have 100 lbs of sand in the trunk to give some added weight to the rear end and I drove slowly.

The drive home couldn’t have come at a more perfect time. It’s the goodness of God. I was able to swap to an earlier period and so I left for home at 2 this afternoon. It was still bad, but there was more slush and most roads had at least one lane pretty clear. Many times as I drove, I was scraping the ice between the ruts. Much more snow and I probably wouldn’t have made it. But I drove the way that I run marathons, slow and steady. I didn’t get much over 40MPH the whole trip, and I was focused on the road. But I know that because of my focus on the road and overcoming this “obstacle” I missed some beautiful scenery. Every now and then, I did get to look around. But most of the time I was too focused.

I don’t want life to go by like that. I want to enjoy the journey. The snow is beautiful. Yes, I have to get task accomplished, but I am making an effort this year, to look around and see the beauty; all the beauty that Papa, Jesus and Holy Spirit have created on this earth. What good is it to accomplish anything if we miss the beauty and glory that God wants us to see. Life is in the journey, not the destination.

Yes, sometimes the journey is hard. Sometimes it is hard for a long season. We all have seasons where it is hard, but in those seasons if we press into His goodness, we get to understand His love and goodness in a much deeper level. And when we come out on the other side, we are closer to Him and know His love so much deeper than we ever realized we could. So tonight if you are in one of those seasons like I have been in, embrace His love. Sleep tonight knowing that He does love you and He didn’t cause any bad thing to happen. Yes the snow is beautiful. There is beauty all around us, even when all we see are the obstacles. We just have to allow ourselves to take the time to look. When we see His glory, it will bring us a refreshing that allows us to continue. The snow is beautiful, and I am glad to be home.