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The Journey
I survived RITA!!!! Well, actually I ran from her, but I am still alive and thus I'm here to bring you another column. This was the longest weekend of my life. I spent almost two days on the road in a car. My sis, bro and I took off from Houston, Texas to Raton, New Mexico about 7 am on Thursday and didn't get there till Friday at 5 am. Now, I've been on long trips before, but never anything like this one, bumper to bumper traffic, inching our way across the big state of Texas and completely stopped at times. They say 2.9 million people left the Houston area. That's just madness. People that stayed said Houston was like a ghost town. Imagine that, the 4th largest city in the U.S., empty.
There were lines and lines of cars filled with people trying to escape the wrath of Rita. People filled with fear. I've never felt anything like that before. Even when Y2K rolled around, it seemed more like a joke, but this was real. After seeing what happened to New Orleans a few weeks earlier, everyone wanted no part of another storm like that. We passed cars parked on the side of the road that had run out of gas or had broken down. Gas station after gas station was completely sold out. We kept a close eye on our gas gauge praying that we would find gas somewhere before we ran out. We even drove without the air conditioning to conserve. And plus having to put up with my grouchy sister and brother, I’m surprised that alone didn’t kill me (jk).
I had no idea what to do that morning before we left. I had worked that night and on my way home, I was asking God, “What should I do? I have no clue what to do God. You’re going to have to lead me and guide me because I’m lost right now.” I knew I didn’t want to take the main highways. I had a bad feeling about that, so we pulled out some maps and ventured through roads I had never even heard of before. All along the way, though we were stuck in traffic at times, I knew God’s hand was guiding us. Even when we were getting closer to E, we ended up in a small town with oil refineries, so all the gas stations there had fuel.
At church Sunday, Pastor Pancho in Raton was talking about our journey and our destination. God already knows our destination. As long as we put our trust in Him, we’ll get there, but sometimes we focus too much on the destination and forget about the journey.
I remember way back when, when I was a kid, I used to go for long rides in the country with my Grandma and Grandpa. My Grandma loved just exploring the country. I can remember her telling my Grandpa to turn down this road or that road, never worrying about where it would lead us. It was always an adventure, and it seemed like everywhere we went she made friends or had friends there from before. She was consumed with the journey. She knew her destination was always going to be home and she knew she was always going to get back there, so she put all her energy into the trip we were taking.
I think that’s the way we need to be in our lives. We need to put all of our energy into what we are doing now and not worry about what is to come. I know God has given some of you specific callings. He’s called you to be a Pastor, or an Evangelist or whatever that is in your life. Maybe you’re not there yet. You will get there. As long as you always “Put Him First” and let Him be your guide, you’ll end up where you’re supposed to be.
Well, Hurricane Rita came and went. I thank God that she turned and missed Houston for the most part, but my prayers do go out to those that were affected. Although it was a rough trip, kind of stressful, I was also blessed. I got a chance to watch my lil bro, Josh, play a football game. I also got to see my family. I was able to sing a special at my old church in Raton and my bro and sis testified of what God is doing in Houston. Maybe I should actually thank Rita for a short vacation.
I found myself telling my sister on the way back to Houston that I had really enjoyed going through all the side roads. She looked at me like I was crazy, because it had taken us longer, but I really did enjoy it. Although it was a long trip and I was dead tired, I was able to appreciate the journey. You should try to, too. God bless.
w/muchluv,
geno
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