If you could visit only one more place in the world that you have never been, where would you go for the final voyage?
Make it Rome.
Tom’s 30 Day Blogging Challenge Day 30
Tag Archives: Travel
Tom’s 30 Day Blogging Challenge Day 1
If you could transport yourself to any place in the world at this moment, where would you go?
The key to this question, for me, is “at this moment.” With autumn in full swing and the chill of winter not far behind, I think I’d like to escape somewhere warm. And, while I’ll never have the opportunity to instantly transport myself again, I might as well take advantage and go someplace I’ll likely never get to again.
I think I’d like to go to an island in the South Pacific. Wendy has always wanted to go to one of those places where the doors on your suite open up right on to the beach and you can walk from your room to the ocean (the question didn’t specify, but I’m going to pretend it’s like a port key in Harry Potter, I’m insisting on grabbing Wendy when I’m instantly transported and taking her with me). I think a place like Fiji would be nice. Wendy and I sleep each night with a sound machine making the sound of ocean waves breaking on the shore. How cool would it be to sleep to the sounds of the actual ocean outside our room? And, eating a fabulous meal on the porch like in this picture?
How about you? Where would you want to be transported?
Chapter-a-Day Numbers 33
These are the camping sites in the journey of the People of Israel after they left Egypt, deployed militarily under the command of Moses and Aaron. Under God’s instruction Moses kept a log of every time they moved, camp by camp. Numbers 33:1-2 (MSG)
We were at the lake with family this past weekend. My daughters, now in their twenties, brought up memories from family vacations many years ago. “Do you remember when…?” I was asked with fill-in-the-blank events and moments from their childhood. It’s always interesting to see which memories are still quickly available to me in my brains RAM, which memories have be relegated to a partition which is difficult to access, and which memories have seemingly been written over with more recent data.
Since shortly after I was in college I began keeping a travel journal whenever I went on a trip. Life is a long journey, and I know that some things will be forgotten or written over in my brain. My journals help me remember specific times and places. They will someday allow my children and granchildren to relive where I was, what I experienced and what I felt at a specific place and time.
In today’s chapter we find Moses keeping a travel journal at a time in history that record keeping was not that easy. They didn’t pass an office supply store every few miles and the raw materials for keeping such records was an arduous task in itself. Yet here we are, thousands of years later reading about their journey and learning from it.
Today, I’m thankful for lessons learned in time and the ability to record them for the benefit and amusement of future generations.
Parenting, Like Good Friendships, Never End
A few days ago I called my friend, Scott, to wish him a Happy Birthday. Scott is my most tenured friend. We met when I was four or five years old; it was so long ago that it predates my conscious memory. He lived a few houses down the street from me and our friendship began with Big Jim and G.I. Joes. It carried on through Schwinn Spyder five-speeds with banana seats, through paper routes, games of freeze-tag and after school basketball games on the Johnson’s driveway. We went through high school together, got in trouble together in Dr. Kober’s Hermeneutics class in college, and were in each others weddings. While our adult years have come and gone with relatively little contact, we can always connect and immediately pick up where we left off.
So it was with our brief exchange on the phone the other night. When Scott asked how life was, I remarked that I feel as though parenting is requiring more of my time and energy now that my girls are grown and gone and out of the house – more time and energy than was required when they were in high school and living under my roof. Scott laughed.
It’s almost 2:00 a.m. and I’m writing this post from the lobby of my hotel in Denver, Colorado. Knowing that my daughter was planning to drive home from the Twin Cities tonight, and hearing about a big snow storm bearing down on the Midwest, I texted Madison to make sure she’d checked the weather. I told her that I didn’t want her and the car she purchased this week in the ditch of I-35 in the wee hours of the morning.
The phone woke me and Wendy up at 1:25 a.m. The ditch from which she was calling me was just south of Albert Lea, MN.
[sigh]
And so, I sit here in the lobby praying and waiting for her call to tell me the Minnesota State Patrol has arrived, that the tow truck is not going to cost more than the low limit on her credit card, and that she is safely back on the road. That accomplished, I will sit here in the lobby and pray some more until I get the call that her car is running and she has found the nearest safe, warm place to ride the storm out.
So, I am finding that parenting never ends, though the responsibilities and demands ebb and flow through the changing stages of our children’s lives. With his knowing laugh, I’m guessing Scott has found the same to be true.
Chapter-a-Day Daniel 7
"And there it ended. I, Daniel, was in shock. I was like a man who had seen a ghost. But I kept it all to myself." Daniel 7:28 (MSG)
Children see and perceive things through the limited lens of their knowledge and experience. There are certain things that they simply cannot grasp or understand. At the same time, children possess a simple, abundant faith that tends to fade with time in direct proportion to the increase of knowledge and experience.
"Get your coat on. Get in the car. I'm taking you somewhere special," I said to my daughters when they were small. They did not know the destination, how to drive the car, nor which streets to take. They simply trusted me to get them to that special place. When we arrived at the amusement park, toy store, or donut shop they finally understood where I was taking them.
I have studied the prophetic writings of scripture numerous times. I have read books, listened to lectures, engaged in debates and meditated on the passages in an effort to wrap my mind around the images and their metaphorical meanings.
In the end, I find myself standing before the prophetic writings like a two-year-old holding a road map. For the life of me I can't completely grasp or understand their message. I kind of get it, but a clear understanding constantly eludes me. Nevertheless, I do have simple faith in my Heavenly Father who has said to me, "Pick up your cross and follow me. I'm taking you someplace special."
Chapter-a-Day Exodus 33
God said, "My presence will go with you. I'll see the journey to the end." Exodus 33:14 (MSG)
Maps. My wife loves maps. Wendy and I traveled last week and I was, once more, struck by the difference between us when it comes to travel. It's not that I don't look at the map. I look, but I get a general course of direction and go. Wendy studies the map before we leave. She meditates on the possible courses we could take and contemplates the best way to get where we're going. She looks at the GPS and calculates the route. Then, as we drive, she anticipates what lies ahead, where we have to turn, how far we have to go to the next way point, and if the chosen route continues to look like the best choice.
I thought of that as I read about Moses pushing God saying, "You tell me, 'I know you well and you are special to me.' If I am so special to you, let me in on your plans." What are the plans God? Where are we going? Where are you leading us? What road are we taking? How long until we get there? What do I need for the journey? Can you please give me a map?
Whether we're looking for a general idea of the direction or a detailed GPS navigational map of the trip, I think Moses echoes our own heart's cry at regular intervals along the journey. We're constantly grasping at a peek of what is coming up around the bend.
Yet, God responded to Moses' demand with a simple promise of His presence. He will be present with us. He will be faithful. He will see us to the journey's end. We may not have been given a map, but if we'll simply follow directions and keep up, we can trust our Guide to see us through to the end.
Chapter-a-Day Exodus 24
Then Moses climbed the mountain. The Cloud covered the mountain. The Glory of God settled over Mount Sinai. The Cloud covered it for six days. On the seventh day he called out of the Cloud to Moses. Exodus 24:15-16 (MSG)
Wendy and I made our way back from the east coast yesterday. We'd been there for four days on business and we were tired. We'd already extended our stay by a day. United gouged us on price for changing our itinerary. Then, it was just one of those days. I spilled scalding hot coffee on myself. Wendy left her iPod on the plane. We had to scurry around the bowels of O'Hare airport to file a lost article report. The more tired we felt, the more impatient we got.
Upon reflection, it is still a wonder that we could wake up looking over the Atlantic ocean and walk through our back door, fourteen hundred miiles away, in a matter of a few hours. How discontent, how impatient we've become.
I found it interesting that for all the pomp and fireworks on the mountain, God did not call out to Moses for seven days, and Moses was up there on the mountain for forty days and nights. I can't imagine how impatient people got waiting for him to come down.
Today, I'm reminded that God exists and operates beyond linear human timelines. His purposes are far greater than my modern day impatience, lack of contentment, and petty demands. God, help me let go of my self-centered impatience, and find rest in your perfect will.
Creative Commons photo courtesy of Flickr and paytonc
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Chapter-a-Day Exodus 17
But Moses' hands got tired. So they got a stone and set it under him. He sat on it and Aaron and Hur held up his hands, one on each side. So his hands remained steady until the sun went down. Exodus 17:12 (MSG)
Growing up I had the opportunity to do a little camping in the boundary waters between Minnesota and Canada. The wilderness is vast in that area with long chains of remote lakes dotted with many uninhabited islands. It seems almost second nature now, but one of the first things I learned was never to go it alone. The buddy system is crucial to ensuring your safety and success on a journey through the wilderness. Whether climbing a mountain or camping in the boundary waters, you want to have a capable companion or companions to rely on.
Today's chapter was a good reminder to me of that principle. Moses was called upon to perform a priestly duty, holding his hands up before God while the battle raged below. He couldn't have completed the task were it not for Aaron and Hur to help hold his arms.
Jesus reminds us that the way of salvation is narrow and difficult. Obediently following God is a journey through the wilderness of this life. The buddy system applies. We all need companions who can be there when we need help being obedient in the things God asks of us.
Today, I'm thankful for those friends who have walked with me during stretches of my spiritual journey, and who would be there at a moments notice should I call upon them. I'm thankful for by buddies who are with me at this point in my life. I'm reminded of my need to be an Aaron or Hur in return, whenever they need me.