"Are we there yet?"
The great American road trip, this week in Mississippi, isn't the most fun thing. We've been in America for a month and our kids are just plain bored with the wide open spaces: grass, suburbs, parking lots, the back of the mini van.
We do get to see friends, meet new people and see new places. That's fun. There are new sleep-over spots, cereal choices and playgrounds in new cities. But for all that "new", there is certainly a lot of redundancy. Back in the car. Back on the highway. And where are all the people, the cows, the cars? Where's the "what in the world are they carrying on that motorbike?" and "Did you see that?"?
I admit, compared to the chaos and crowded streets we are used to, America is boring. It's cruise-control-redundant.
And so here I am missing the things I never thought I would: the traffic, the crowds, the chaos. Am I crazy with nostalgia? Maybe. But maybe that's one of the things I have come to love about living in a city with millions, surprising variety and frustrating inconsistency. We never grow bored (and on the flip side, never completely comfortable) with the everyday.
With all this travel, the questions from the backseat get redundant. Even a trip to the grocery store is boredom inducing. I'd like to say I'm patiently comforting my children with every "How many more minutes? This seems like FOREVER!" that comes my way, but I am not. The best I usually do is, "I know kiddo. Try to be patient."
[Here's where I compare God with chaos and traffic]
During one of these trips, my mind wandered into wondering if this is how I go about my relationship with God....zooming past on cruise control, from point A to point B. When I living out my week I get bored. In between events or moments or experiences, I wonder, "Are we there yet?"
So I wonder, does God have to jazz it up a little? Throw in a couple of ridiculous typos to catch my attention? A cow. Five people on one motorcycle. Blue chickens (seriously saw this one time)?
The problem, however is not God. Nor was it Mississippi on our road trip or the fact that in America, you have to drive across vast parking lots just to buy a non-blue chicken. The problem is [every Reformed pastor's favorite zinger] me. Here I go, zooming past. Getting bored. Thinking this living and active and amazing God is redundant. I reinvent Him. I jazz Him up. But mostly I wait impatiently (not eagerly) and wastefully. And I do it over and over again, redundant as the Spirit of the Living God makes mercies new every morning. I don't live in Him the way He invites me to do...starring out the window, asking around "Did you see that?" and falling more and more in love with all that He is.
The great American road trip, this week in Mississippi, isn't the most fun thing. We've been in America for a month and our kids are just plain bored with the wide open spaces: grass, suburbs, parking lots, the back of the mini van.
We do get to see friends, meet new people and see new places. That's fun. There are new sleep-over spots, cereal choices and playgrounds in new cities. But for all that "new", there is certainly a lot of redundancy. Back in the car. Back on the highway. And where are all the people, the cows, the cars? Where's the "what in the world are they carrying on that motorbike?" and "Did you see that?"?
I admit, compared to the chaos and crowded streets we are used to, America is boring. It's cruise-control-redundant.
And so here I am missing the things I never thought I would: the traffic, the crowds, the chaos. Am I crazy with nostalgia? Maybe. But maybe that's one of the things I have come to love about living in a city with millions, surprising variety and frustrating inconsistency. We never grow bored (and on the flip side, never completely comfortable) with the everyday.
With all this travel, the questions from the backseat get redundant. Even a trip to the grocery store is boredom inducing. I'd like to say I'm patiently comforting my children with every "How many more minutes? This seems like FOREVER!" that comes my way, but I am not. The best I usually do is, "I know kiddo. Try to be patient."
[Here's where I compare God with chaos and traffic]
During one of these trips, my mind wandered into wondering if this is how I go about my relationship with God....zooming past on cruise control, from point A to point B. When I living out my week I get bored. In between events or moments or experiences, I wonder, "Are we there yet?"So I wonder, does God have to jazz it up a little? Throw in a couple of ridiculous typos to catch my attention? A cow. Five people on one motorcycle. Blue chickens (seriously saw this one time)?
The problem, however is not God. Nor was it Mississippi on our road trip or the fact that in America, you have to drive across vast parking lots just to buy a non-blue chicken. The problem is [every Reformed pastor's favorite zinger] me. Here I go, zooming past. Getting bored. Thinking this living and active and amazing God is redundant. I reinvent Him. I jazz Him up. But mostly I wait impatiently (not eagerly) and wastefully. And I do it over and over again, redundant as the Spirit of the Living God makes mercies new every morning. I don't live in Him the way He invites me to do...starring out the window, asking around "Did you see that?" and falling more and more in love with all that He is.
Reading some of your older things this morning, and I love this one!
ReplyDeleteI pray you and your family are blessed by the potholes, cow crossings,even the families on the edge of roads, as the Lord draws you ever nearer through this season of life.