A few years ago, my friend Rebekah and I went on a mad hunt for new luggage.  The suitcase that I had gotten when I graduated high school had taken a real beaten throughout my college years.  I was about to embark on a summer full of mission trips, camp, retreats, and vacations.  It was time for new luggage!  If you know me at all, then you can imagine my excitement when a hot pink and black set was on sale.  No brainer—I’d found my new luggage.  I was so excited about all that could be packed in this 3-piece set.  Especially since, “pack light”, are words that I don’t tend to take to heart.

I’m a sucker for a good road trip.  I love everything about it!  Okay… almost everything about it.  The excitement that comes with figuring out what I’m going to wear while I’m gone, creating a new playlist on my i-pod that’s fit for the trip, deciding what we’re going to do while we’re gone, and even determining what I can get by with wearing the whole week before so that I don’t have to do laundry until I get back from my excursion.  I love prepping for the trip and I love being at the destination.  That part that I’m not really a fan of is if getting there takes forever.  I’m not a let’s-stop-ten-times-on-the-way kind of girl and I certainly don’t typically opt for the scenic route.  I just want to be there.  I don’t really care for the travel required to get there, the journey if you will.  As far I’m concerned, the shortest distance between two points is a straight line.  I break out the road map to make sure the GPS directions are sending me the quickest route possible.  This has been a problem since I was a kid.  My sisters always wanted to know what county we were in, if this was highway whatever, and couldn’t we go that way and head towards *insert a city*.  I was always the first to ask “how much longer” “are we there yet” and “what’s next”.

Recently, I’ve had the same “complaint” in my spiritual walk.  I’m a big fan of all the preparation required to be ready to go where God wants me to go… studying God’s word; knowing His heart; seeking out Godly wisdom from mentors; plugging into a good small group; belting out praise and worship songs in my room, car, shower, kitchen,  hallway.  I get all of that, I love all of that.  What I don’t always get is the molding He has to do to have me ready.  (I require a lot of work!)  I want to just be there.  It goes back to the traveling… I don’t like the journey.  I think it’s because it’s not always a comfortable place to be.  In fact, it can be pretty painful.  Particularly for a girl who likes to map out her trips and plan every necessary detail.

These days, God’s been reminding me that He only promised a lamp unto my feet, not a crystal ball into my future.  He isn’t necessarily going to even tell me where the destination is, He wants me along for the journey.  Quite the opposite of what I prefer.  I’m also learning that it’s okay to keep being the kid who wants to know “how much longer” “are we there yet” and “what’s next”.  I used to think that questioning Him wasn’t okay, that it somehow meant I didn’t have enough faith.  However, I’m learning that questioning God does not necessarily mean not having faith.  It’s in those questions, that don’t get immediate answers, where God whispers what He wants me to hear.  My faith deepens because I’m willing to be part of the journey.

I am so thankful that God’s cool with me playing 20 questions with Him; that He handles my heart and questions all along the journey.  I don’t know what tomorrow holds, but I do know that He’s got it all figured out.  Praise God, who has and is lovingly authoring my story!