Now Where Did I Put That?
June 29, 2013
Last Thursday (June 20) we left our empty house in Newtown, PA and headed west. West??? You thought we said Tennessee, right? Well, before you grab your atlas or old geography book, Tennessee is still in the South. But we had some unfinished business in Pennsylvania – mainly driving west to see our son to tell him goodbye. (sniff, sniff) After hugs and kisses and a few tears, we drove to Harrisburg to visit some dear friends to bid them farewell. Somehow we managed to get all the way to Chambersburg (still in PA) to spend our first night. We are slow movers.
The next day we turned South as promised and traveled briefly through Maryland, West Virginia (I blinked and missed it all together) and across the gorgeous rolling hills of Virginia before stopping for the night in Knoxville, Tennessee. Now we were making progress!
The third day we turned toward Nashville but we weren’t finished yet! We could only stop briefly to unload a few essentials because our dog who had been traveling with us this whole long trip isn’t welcome (sniff, sniff) in our temporary housing arrangement. So off to Mississippi we went! The next morning I woke up in my mother’s house to the sounds and smells of breakfast and Sunday lunch being made. My mom has graciously agreed to dog sit all summer. Whew!
After lunch we headed back to our Tennessee “home”. Four nights in four different places and only one of them (my mother’s house) even vaguely familiar. We were exhausted.
I would love to tell you now that the last thing I did every night was say my prayers but the truth of the matter is… the last thing I did every night all those nights on the road was look around and try to memorize quickly where everything was. See, I was completely out of place. I’m still out of place. I knew if I needed to get up during the night in the dark, I should first learn my way around in the light. “My shoes are there, the dog bowls are in the corner, my suitcase over by the lamp… Got it.” I didn’t want to trip and fall, risking injury, because I couldn’t find my way around when I couldn’t see.
Spiritually speaking, it’s the same principle. We need to know beyond a shadow of a doubt – because shadows play tricks on our eyes – the truths of God. We need to learn them in the daylight so we won’t be stumbling around when it gets dark. And it will get dark. Trials, sickness, new situations are all strange places and if you don’t know Who and what you trust, you might find yourself completely overwhelmed.
This week, in my quiet moments, in all these unfamiliar places, my mind and heart have been flooded with light from familiar Scriptures. They have been a source of great comfort as I left (again) what I knew to begin again in a new location. Just like I would strategically place all my things in the hotel room so I wouldn’t trip or stub my toe, I have placed His Word in my heart to sustain me through this transition. (ct)
“In Him is no darkness at all”.