For our last family vacation, before my older children were grown and moved away, we headed to Branson. Trying to navigate with three rowdy teens teasing each other mercilessly in the back seat caused us to miss our turn onto the Interstate.
We ended up on a crooked, two-lane back road that meandered for miles and added hours to our trip. It would take too long to get back to the highway, so we decided to enjoy the journey.
We put away our phones and grumpy attitudes, sang “Sic ‘Em On A Chicken” with our Zac Brown CD, and were captivated by the Ozark scenery. We stopped to explore a cave and an old iron bridge and laughed a lot, enjoying being together. It wasn’t what we had planned, but that unplanned leg of our journey has become one of my most treasured memories.
Life is a journey, and I often remind myself of this adage, especially when the journey has led me down a road I never intended. My plans haven’t always aligned with God’s, and sometimes the path He has chosen for me is hard. It becomes challenging to find joy in the journey.
Those unexpected detours can lead to times of loneliness and loss, and joy seems to be a thing of the past.
I’m so thankful that He has provided a way to grasp hold of joy again, even when the journey gets hard and I get weary. “You make known to me the path of life; in your presence, there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore” (Psalm 16:11 ESV).
I can go into the Secret Place and BE with HIM! Spending time in His Presence restores my joy so I can finish the journey.
My joy comes from knowing God, and my journey will one day lead me home to Him.
We ended up on a crooked, two-lane back road that meandered for miles and added hours to our trip. It would take too long to get back to the highway, so we decided to enjoy the journey.
We put away our phones and grumpy attitudes, sang “Sic ‘Em On A Chicken” with our Zac Brown CD, and were captivated by the Ozark scenery. We stopped to explore a cave and an old iron bridge and laughed a lot, enjoying being together. It wasn’t what we had planned, but that unplanned leg of our journey has become one of my most treasured memories.
Life is a journey, and I often remind myself of this adage, especially when the journey has led me down a road I never intended. My plans haven’t always aligned with God’s, and sometimes the path He has chosen for me is hard. It becomes challenging to find joy in the journey.
Those unexpected detours can lead to times of loneliness and loss, and joy seems to be a thing of the past.
I’m so thankful that He has provided a way to grasp hold of joy again, even when the journey gets hard and I get weary. “You make known to me the path of life; in your presence, there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore” (Psalm 16:11 ESV).
I can go into the Secret Place and BE with HIM! Spending time in His Presence restores my joy so I can finish the journey.
My joy comes from knowing God, and my journey will one day lead me home to Him.
Posted in Joy in Scripture
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3 Comments
This is so good Angela! My life has taken some unexpected detours, circumstances not working out as I though they would. But I know Jesus holds me in his loving arms and knows what is best for me on the journey of life.
Love this soooo much. It made me pause, because I remember a time Al took a wrong road contrary to what the GPS said. I freaked out! I am such a follow the rules person. He was always so carefree. I probably ruined the journey worrying if we would ever get back on track! 🤦â€â™€ï¸
That was years ago, and thankfully, God has taught me to chill lol. I rarely get rattled, which is a good thing with where we are now.
I now try to capture any ray of joy.
I love how you all made a missed turn into a great time!!! Most of us would have let it ruin our day. It is eye opening and a reminder that life is about how we react and that we can have unexpected joy if we look for it in our situations.💜💜💜