EnJOY the Journey

The girls and I set off for the beach today with some friends. The beach is my place to get away and just take a deep breath. Everything seems fine when I'm by the ocean.

Today, we spent most of the time watching the kids play in the sand and surf. I suggested we should take the kids for a walk down the beach to the tidepools. This is a regular occurence for us when we camp at this same beach in the Fall.

I guess it's a long walk, but I never noticed before. I just remembered walking, talking, laughing and enjoying the moment. But today it was differient. We were trying to keep the kids from running in the surf because that was making the trip take longer. I noticed I wasn't as interested in the shells they were finding and I was wondering why I was so tense. After all, this was supposed to be fun. I was asking myself why is it so differient? What is the problem?

As we passed the area by where we normally camp it hit me.

When we are camping there is no end to the journey. We are heading toward the tidepools and we will stop and look at the animals and marvel at how they survive. But then we may decide to walk farther down the beach because ... well... why not? There was nothing to be conquered. The joy was in the journey, not the destination. Suddenly, I didn't mind stopping and letting the kids chase the waves or see how many shells, broken or not, they could find.

The real joy had begun.

As we walked back, my youngest daughter and I were engaged in another battle of wills. The reality of the rising tide meant we needed to move back down the beach. She had other ideas and so she had to stay with mom and hold my hand -- as a friend has coined the term, "Mommy Jail". I realize that holding mom's hand should not be punishment. However, when you have a five year old who lives for her free will, "Mommy Jail" has its place. As we walked the pull to go her own way changed to quiet walking in step with me, talking about what we were seeing and how much we were enjoying our walk together. She squeezed my hand three times (code for "I Love You" in our family). That was a great journey.

We are all on a journey of some kind. Some of us have goals for that journey. Goals are helpful because they keep us motivated. But those goals can also cause us stress and frustration when we are not reaching them fast enough. I encourage you to slow down, take a deep breath and find the joy in your Journey.

After all, God already knows where you are going. He's waiting for you to take His hand, leave the pull of your will and let your step go in time with His. Pretty soon you'll feel three squeezes.