Ahhhh, home. After two or so weeks of being away, I'm finally at "home".
During the course of one week, I had rested my head in three different states. Now that I'm home, I find myself reflecting on the past week. It was a crazy week full of planes and 12 hours on the open road. The only things I missed were July 4th fireworks and a hot plate of chorrr and mean curry. But what is particularly interesting about the trips I made is I don't have any pictures to remember it by.
I did bring my camera for the first place I visited (Tampa) but I didn't get a chance to use it much...and by the end of that trip I had made the decision to leave it at home for my trip to Indiana which was two days after I arrived home from Florida. I simply didn't find the need for it. Here at home is where I'm realizing the effects of that conscious decision I made. I now have to depend solely on my memories of last week....there are no pictures I have of certain memorable or funny moments that would usually be captured on a timeless microchip that can replay your favorite memories to you in an instant. I find myself at work sometimes reminiscing on small aspects of the road trip such as where we stopped to eat breakfast or what mountain range we drove past....sad to say it's strange having to use my actual memory to remember scenes of my life rather than having a tangible photograph to say "Look! Here's where we stopped on our drive through Ohio!" All that being said, being forced to remember scenes from my life served as a blessing in disguise: this whole *depending on my memory* thing has helped me realize just how much actually stuck in my head from the past week- the new faces I'd met and most importantly the lessons I'd learned. So at work the other day I was thinking about reflecting and recollecting my thoughts so that I might have one place where I can look back on it all.
Thinking back to Tampa, if there was one silly life lesson I'd have to remind myself of over again it would be-
1. Never leave your luggage unattended.
I remember leaving my Bible, handbag and my one and only carry on luggage bag, which had all my things for the whole weekend, at a table during a dinner at a church one night when I got called into another room for a meeting. I came back one hour later to find the dining hall deserted and my bags gone! Weirdly enough my handbag and Bible was kept right where it was but my luggage was gone. My mind started frantically thinking about all my things for the weekend that were in my bags- gone in an instant. Someone with good intentions had thought it was left there accidentally and took it in the hopes of finding its owner. Luckily a majority of those at the dinner were familiar to me so I was able to recover my things at the end of the night- but I sure learned my lesson! I always heard it being announced at an airport to "Never leave your luggage unattended" but I guess the same is true outside of an airport setting! I learned to either take it with me or let others know it's been kept there to retrieve later, haha.
Moving on to a lesson learned from my two day stop at home.
2. When packing, making a list always helps! & Don't cross of the item until it is securely placed inside your suitcase!
This used to be a downfall for me in the past but learning from my mistake has helped me pack more effectively and efficiently. I would put something in, cross it off the list only to take it out for another use and forget to put it back in. This time, I only crossed off items that were in my travel bag for good!
Lessons learned on the road!
3. Packing a lunch that travels well is an inexpensive and fun way to feed hungry stomachs out on the road!
I had the wonderful privilege of traveling with an older couple. The woman I traveled with thoughtfully brought delicious picnic style chicken salad sandwiches we could assemble ourselves. I'm familiar with always having a rest stop at a McDonald's or Roy Rogers...something where you get fast food and spend some spare change on food that is probably not the best thing to eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner. However, this woman's example taught me what it looks like to have a good balance of spending and saving on the road (when possible)- we ate breakfast at Roy Rogers and we ate her home made sandwiches for lunch. Sadly on the way back we didn't have any home made sandwiches even though my cousin and I were secretly craving her chicken salad sandwich. ;) We did stop at Cracker Barrel though which made the ride home a bit sweeter. :)
I also learned that a road trip is a great way to find out more about your travel companions. Turning off the music for a while and just talking was a great way to keep drivers awake and also entertained. It surprised me how many hours we went simply talking without any music.Our voices and laughter were the music that filled the car as we shared and reflected on God's faithfulness in our lives. That was truly a blessing.
Lessons learned out at IWU! Here is probably where the most important lessons I'd learned.
From hearing several speakers and various testimonies of the wonderful people I met, there was one reoccurring message that was pounding away at my hard skull, which was:
4. Question things. (I am not talking about doubting)
I get so stuck in a rut of reading and understanding the Bible in a mundane and routine way....I find myself reading parables as stories that I assume make complete sense without any questioning of whats happening, why its happening the way its happening and who is making what happen. Did that confuse you enough?
I don't remember the last time I read a familiar passage in the Bible and asked out loud why is it a woman losing her coin? Why isn't it a man losing 1 out of his 10 coins? Why is it just one coin that she lost out of 10? Is there something special about 10 coins? (If you didn't get my reference, it was of the parable of the lost coin found in Luke 15.) The truth I was reminded of last week is that God writes things in the Bible in such a way that there is so much more to understand if only I would just wonder about it. I mean, if we're talking about the One who thought it important to write words "it was night" when describing when Judas left the table at the last supper: "As soon as Judas had taken the bread, he went out. And it was night." John 13:30
When God writes something, He writes it with a purpose and leaves out nothing that He finds important. Do you think the God who had even the thread color of the robes of His Old Testament priests written down would somehow forget to write down what color a woman's head covering should be? No. He writes things with purpose and He also leaves things out (color of a woman's head covering) with purpose.Yet here I am many times just sitting and reading His Word as I would read any old story book. I need to learn how to pry open the words on the page instead of assuming I understand everything I need to from the words written right there. I heard a speaker once say, "You are not supposed to read the Bible, you are supposed to read a magazine. You are supposed to study the Bible." I pray I can start implementing this lesson learned in my life A.S.A.P.
Last lesson learned:
I remember talking to a friend on how to be a more useful vessel for my Maker and the lesson I learned from that one conversation has altered my way of thinking for good.
5. God is more concerned about the work He is doing IN me rather than the work He is doing THROUGH me.
Sometimes I get so focused on how I can be used for God to bring Him glory rather than realizing that God can use anyone to bring Him glory. The truth is that God is more concerned about the work He is doing inside of me rather than what He can do through me. That was a slap in the face kind of moment. It's not bad to be concerned about bringing God glory but its when I forget that I, or in essence what is going on inside of me and my life is what will bring God glory more than any place I go, words I say or some type of good work I do in the hope of bringing God glory. The thing God is working in me will speak louder than anything He does through me.
Well, those are just A FEW of the lessons I've learned from my little trip. If I'd written on all the lessons, I wouldn't even be able to look back and read that long of a blog post so I'm really sparing myself. By not writing them all down I'm trusting that I have committed to memory* what I have learned...and boy am I learning how valuable my memory is. Mental pictures rather than physical, tangible photographs. Quite frankly I'm not sure what I'll do when I get old and my memory fails me. Thankfully when my memory fails, I'll be able to lean on the Rock who promises to never forget me.
"What is the price of five sparrows? A couple of pennies? Yet God does not forget a single one of them. And the very hairs on your head are all numbered. So don't be afraid; you are more valuable to him than a whole flock of sparrows." (Luke 12:6)
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