Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Just the Beginning.


This blog has been long neglected and this update long in coming. Much has happened and much needs to be recorded and related. And today seems like the perfect day for such an update. It’s’ 72 degrees outside. My room is lit with soft summer light and the air is warm but lacks the weight of deep summer days. My fan is turning just fast enough to bring the smell of the grass being cut outside the windows indoors, and the gentle whirr of the cycling blades hums a sleepy note.

Yes. This is perfect.

The past two weeks have been packed with surprises and adventures. You see, the semester ended quite readily at the beginning of the month, and on May 10th my two roommates, my boyfriend, and I packed ourselves snuggly into my Jeep and began what would be 10 day road trip along the East Coast. We had neatly arranged plans and carefully packed luggage and just enough cash to buy just enough gas to get us home again. Four friends. Five cities. And the adventure began.

We started with two days in New York City, made our way down to Richmond for four, followed by a day trip to Chapel Hill, back to Richmond, up to D.C., and finally to Pittsburg for a friend’s wedding. There were many ups and downs throughout the trip – tight grad school budgets, introverts with people-overload, and several cases of getting hangry (when you’re angry mostly because you’re hungry). Though I suppose I could record all the events that took place, what I really want to do is name a few things I learned along the way.

1) God’s goodness cannot be understated or over-noticed. Throughout our trip, quiet mornings with the Lord were few. Though occasionally we all would scurry to separate corners of the place we were staying to be with Him, the rhythm that I have come to savor of hazy, silent mornings was missed. The persistent regularity with which I meet with Him is like the constant beating of a drum, and it sets the cadence for the dance of life. but something sacred happened between the crowded moments of walking with Him on this trip. Surrounded by friends who also walk with Him, I was struck by the nearness to Him I consistently experienced. He was there. Always. And I was certain of it. as we talked in the car, walked the streets of a new city, met new friends, and tasted new foods there was a sense within me that our God was being passed between us. He was in our words, our smiles, our patience, our sleep. Truly, where two or more are gathered in His name, He is there. And He was.

Not only did God give to us of Himself, He gave to us in tangible ways none of us could have expected. The material blessings He afforded us are too many to name, but the list includes one father who paid for all the gas on our trip, another who paid for a hotel room when we were in a pinch, a kind new friend who bought us a $900 meal, and a generous stranger who handed us $200 to be used “as needed” on our trip. All these things left me asking, Really, God? Why would you bless us in such an over-the-top way? And the answer always came back, Because I delight to deal abundantly with my children. Sigh. Yes, the generous goodness of our God can not be emphasized enough. No poem is eloquent enough to capture it, no song beautiful enough to sing it. Were all the land parchment and all the seas ink, it would be inadequate. He is good.

2) Traveling is not in the circles, but the lines. You know how, when you set out to plan a trip with multiple destinations like this one, you get out your map and a red pen. You start by circling the cities you want to see and explore, and then you trace carefully the most efficient route between. I was looking forward to each circle on the map. Most of the cities we were visiting were new to me, and I love a good adventure. But I was gladly surprised to find that some of my favorite moments of the trip were when we traveled from one destination to the other. We danced in our seats, laughed about talk radio show hosts, played too many games of 20 Questions and Would You Rather, and sat in the most comfortable silence that can only be found among dear friends. Though trips are often defined by the sights seen, several of my most sacred memories were made on the highways in the middle of nowhere.

3) Cities are to be tasted. When people ask how the trip was, I can’t help but telling them about some of the foods we ate; in fact, it would be fair to say that we ate our way across the map. From escargot and bone marrow to North Carolina BBQ and frozen yogurt, each new location had a flavor of its own. And that seems quite appropriate to me. Culture is, in a significant way, experienced much through food. If any of us had been unnecessarily concerned with calories or how the swim suit would fit later in the day, the experience would have been incredibly different. And I would even dare to say it would have been less of an experience. We ate well. We enjoyed and savored and tasted. And for that, we learned.

4) Lastly, territory is important. There is a way of knowing someone that simply cannot be accessed until you are in the place that is significant to him or her. Whether it is staying in their childhood home or walking through their college campus, putting foot to earth on the ground they tread bridges understanding in way that I can hardly articulate. Seeing the back porch on which they had breakfast with their dad every Saturday morning or seeing the cafeteria where the oft-repeated story took place ignites the narratives in a way that brings them into full life. And you simply can’t get that from an album on facebook.

We’re home again, and glad for it. My bed has never been quite so welcoming as it was the first night back. We are beginning classes again, enjoying running outside, and eating yummy summertime foods. I am, in particular, enjoying the slower pace that marks this season. It’s this pace that affords me the time to remember and record the adventures of the past two weeks. And it’s this same slow pace that reminds me that summer is just beginning. 

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