Bumps in the Road, Road Trip Part 3

Obstacles, flat tires, dead end roads, annoying traffic back ups and detours, yes, these bumps in the road trip are out there by the 1000s and it is no different in life. We plan to go in one direction but life seems to drag us in another, we have two choices, bitterness or go with it and look for the good!
I remember once going on a road trip with Mark and he would not stop for anything! Not real food(I had to live on nuts and berries from a wee cooler on the passenger side floor board), not the bathroom(I just had to hold it!), not for anything but crabs and that the car needed gasoline. Needless to say, I loathed the trip, we had only road tripped in Britain before, a tiny island not more than 4 hours to anywhere really, so I had no idea of his penchant for going until I wanted to scream! In fact, it was so horrible that I remember little else from that trip! I spent the whole time angry, not once thinking that I had a captive audience I could have talked his ear off or sung it off. I could have listened to my tunes and relaxed and thought about deserts and very very dry places until the car ran out of gas. I could have read my Bible(except that probably would have made me car sick). But, you see my point, the obstacle of Mark not stopping got me so focused on him not stopping that when ever I think of that trip, that is the first thing that comes to mind! Silly, Dani! That is exactly what we can do to this wonderful gift of life God has given us.
Mark and I love each other immensely, we want to be together, and this is odd for most married couples nowadays. I thank God for him daily and we have been married for six years! 3.5 years of that we have been apart! That is not counting a few absences here and there. We are flat sick of it and are striving to make it different but every turn means more waiting. I could fixate on that, hold onto that frustration, pet it, love it and call it Crap, but I wouldn’t notice all the wonder that is our life! We get to go and visit him in new places! I have Joshua and I get to be a homemaker! I have a dog that I get to take to work with me every day because I’m a homemaker! How freakin’ cool is that? I love my home, my land and my car! I love my neighbors and I love my friends! I have so many cool things going on with my church and so much fun with Mary Kay! How could I be blind to all that? Easily enough; simply fixate on the bad, on the absence of the love of my life. I am a firm believer that you will reflect what your mind loves on. Another words, what do you think about when you have nothing to really think about. In those times it is the most dangerous for our hearts!
The Holy Bible, New International Version. Pradis CD-ROM:Mt 15:19.

Mt 15:19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. d
So what should we do when our mind starts to wander and we find it wandering to everything that is negative and we commence the poor me party!
First, remember that Jesus did not spare Himself hardships. He didn’t have a bed onto which he could lay his head and he roamed ceaselessly for three years and then died a HORRIBLE death; now grant it He rose again three days later. However, couldn’t He have taken a more cushy route, certainly, but He did not spare Himself. He stayed on His road trip with ALL of its obstacles to the bitter end to save us! Considering that helps me get a right perspective on my painful circumstances.
Secondly, I remember Noah, Abram and Jacob. Think about the road blocks these folks had in their lives! Noah had a huge boat to construct in the middle of the desert, then all these animals to care for and was on a boat for a year – then he could go on with his life. Abram was separated from his family and told to go to another far off land and he went, but he moved around constantly and was told he would have a child. While he tried to do things to fix his childless status (the Arab Nation) he couldn’t do it, God removed the obstacle and then Abraham went about raising Isaac. And Jacob, that poor man had to work for 14 years to get the wife he wanted and then she wouldn’t get pregnant and became very bitter and angry with Jacob! Talk about a case of the grass being greener on the other side! These are people that God chose to have a relationship with, to talk with and share in His plan with! I want to have a tight relationship with Him, doesn’t that mean that I should expect life’s circumstances to shape me as it did the forefathers?
Finally, I start making a list of everything that is right and wonderful in my life and thanking God for them one by one. When I am done I have God’s peace again and I know that He will fix Mark and I’s separateness in His time. Until then, Mark and I have to bloom where we are planted, we have to focus on Him and wait on Him. We have to trust in Him and know that His ways are not our ways! That is hard, so hard and we are not perfect at it. However, I strive to stay on my knees before the Lord and in His word. I race to church on the weekends for Mass, even when I am out of town because I need Jesus to get through this road trip called life. The fact of the matter is, Mark and I will be together again and then there will be another flat tire on this road trip, so we have to keep abiding in Him and then He will abide in us!
Until next time, you do that too!