The Adventure

I am usually not a very patient person,  It's truly one of my major flaws.  Ask anyone who knows me well and they will undoubtedly agree. So, as I am standing in a very long line to reschedule my cancelled flight home, some not very kind thoughts are streaming through my mind.  Not only am I feeling very impatient with the airline, I am not feeling too kindly toward my fellow travelers, either.




This past week, I was in a cottage on Lake Michigan in Wisconsin for one of the most wonderful weeks of my life.  I attended a Writers Workshop with 12 other beautifully gifted women writers.  It was an inspiring, fun, jam-packed time of sharing our hearts, feeling wrapped in a blanket of acceptance and understanding, sharing our stories and listening to the stories of others.

But now the week was over, it was time to go home, time to get back to real life, back to normal.  Sunday morning dawned sunny and warmer than usual.  Three of us said a sad goodbye to our last cabin mate left there and headed via shuttle to the airport.  In Milwaukee, we went our separate ways and I settled in for the 5-hr wait for my flight. The first leg of my trip went well.  Upon arrival in Charlotte NC, however, I found my connecting flight had been delayed an hour and a half; then it changed to two and a half hours, then ultimately it was cancelled.  So here I was waiting in line to find out when my fight would be rescheduled and where I would be spending the night.  Not on my top ten list; not even top five!

But something happened to me as I waited in that line listening to everyone around me complaining, complaining, waa-wa-waa-wa-wa-wa-wa!!  My heart rate slowed down and I realized that whether I was upset or not, this was happening and I had a choice - complain and moan about it OR make the most of it,  I thought, "Lord, you and I are obviously having an adventure here, so I think I'll just sit back and enjoy it!"

So many times our lives are de-railed by delays, or what we interpret as delays.  We go storming through life, agenda in hand.  We have a plan, we have a goal and we're headed there with blinders on!  And heaven help the person or thing that gets in our way!  Maybe you're not like that, but I am.  An interruption in my plans is not always met with joy in my heart.  I see it usually as an intrusion.  I want to get back to my plan, my agenda.  I want to do things my way!  I wonder, now, how much do I miss of life with that attitude?

These kinds of interruptions help to remind me that I am not in control.  The only thing in life I can really control is my reaction and response to the things that happen along the way.  And that reaction or response is what will determine whether I truly enjoy the journey and see the gift God has for me in that moment.

Sometimes, our normal is interrupted by major things that happen, like an illness or a death, and we are just desperate to get back to our life, get back to normal, because this thing is too hard or too painful to deal with. But I think I'm learning these things are not necessarily interruptions to life or to normal.  These things are our life!  These things are normal; they are our normal.  The normal life God is walking through with us every day.  It may not be our perception of normal, or even what we desire our normal to be.  But it is our life; our adventure.  The one and only one we have.  When our hearts are open to every "intrusion," then we are able to see better God's hand at work.  We are more able to see Him.  And, hopefully, we are more able to embrace the adventure.

So, here I sit in my hotel room with the whole day ahead of me, wondering what else God has planned for this adventure.  Whatever it may be, I'm now seeing it with new eyes and I'm kind of excited about the possibilities.  I also might add, though, that regardless of the adventure, I still want to get home today!!  I hope that's part of His adventurous plan, too!