Point A to Point B and "the next"

There is a road that stretches from Point A to Point B and I am on it. (I'll get back to that later.)

Last Friday, I knew where my Point A began (my house) and where it would take me: Point B (Columbus, Ohio). The mission: bringing Amy home after being in Thailand for 6 months.

(Insert large uncontrolled smile, random dancing, confetti, and joyful tears.)

Starting any journey involves preparation. For my family, somehow this inevitably involves food. Grapes, pretzels,Whale crackers, oyster crackers, peach rings, minty gum, apple juice and bottled water were strategically placed in a cooler bag and we were off. This organization lasted about 5.4 minutes into the trip.

Traveling also means potential boredom for a certain 12 year old lad; this too involves preparation. A sketch book and pen, a fully charged cell phone with a farming app, a comfy pillow and a portion of my body to lean against and he is set. Ryan comes by this tendency for boredom honestly. My bag has pens, a journal, a book and my cell phone. I also do my best to avoid that awful feeling of carsickness and I made sure I had ginger candy, motion bands, and a non-drowsy form of anti-motion sickness pills on board.

My parents came along for the ride. Actually they were the ride. Or I should say that their van (aka The White Whale) was the ride. They came prepared for the journey with peanuts, a CD variety (think "Chuckwagon Gang") and a GPS. After plugging 2120 E. 5th Avenue in, we where on our way.













       As our journey began that day, it was also the ending of a journey. Amy's REACH experience in Thailand would be "officially" complete at 5:00 PM, and with a certificate in hand she would say her final goodbyes, her luggage would be loaded into the Whale and we would head East once again.





All this thought about preparation and journey makes me wonder about...The Journey of Life....
(insert dramatic, sweeping, emotion-gripping music). I know, cliche. But, my point is this: doesn't one life experience just lead into the next, and the next, and so on? Even for Amy, were the final goodbyes really final? Sure, it will be different the next time she meets up with them, but it is just part of "the next". And her time with REACH is just leading into the next step in her life. Each experiences adds a layer and texture that make the next part of the journey richer and deeper.

Maybe it is like a book, where one chapter leads to the next. Even death, which rather loudly proclaims, "THE END" is setting us up for the sequel.  And while that all sounds hopeful and promising, I know there is hard stuff along the way. Really hard, ugly, this-isn't-how-I-thought-my-life-would-be kind of stuff. So, what's the point?

Point A to Point B. I'm on that road. I don't always like it and I really want to stop, take a detour, or go back to where I started and try again. But here I am and I just keep putting one foot in front of the other and I am reminded that when it gets really difficult and I keep falling down, that maybe it is because I didn't prepare.

I need nourishment (both literal and spiritual). I need encouragement and sometimes a push. And I need to remember to stop, pause and rest along the way. This kind of journey doesn't happen in a day. I want to enjoy the sights along the way. A day at a time.

And today? I'm going to be thankful for those that gave their lives to protect our country and our freedoms. I'm going to be bask in the blessing of having my Amy home again for a time. I'm going to relish the days Heather and Ryan are still at home and look forward to long weekends when Adrienne comes home to hang out with us. I'm going to keep loving Sunday afternoons when Aaron and Lisa-Anna are here for lunch. I'm going to keep going, one step at a time.

Love,
Dianne


 P.S: Boredom sets in at about 15 minutes into the trip:

P.S. 2 Any guesses as to what this is?