Road trip!

We haven’t been back from England for quite a week and we are off again, on the road to Ellijay, GA.  Our youngest daughter, Anna, had a hankering to get away to the mountains for a few days.  Her husband had to head out for a conference, so a simple call to her Ma, and the planning had begun.

Wed AM, I got up early enough to get in a 40+min run, then we loaded up and headed for Anna’s.  After loading her stuff and two young kids, (Her oldest is about 2.5 years), we headed out.  It went pretty smoothly with two stops to nurse the baby, and about 6 hours later we were pulling into the cabin.

The renters were the most organized short-term rental folks I have encountered. The rental contract was 3 pp and included plenty of detail plus a $200 damage deposit.  I complimented them on their attorney.

It was a beautiful day and great to be back in the old home state.  Brenda and I were both born in the same little village in North GA, delivered by the same GP.  We got to spend a couple of hours with Brenda’s brother and his family in Ellijay, GA.  We passed a big part of the day wandering around Blue Ridge, GA, and then trekked over to beautiful Amicalola Falls, GA, very near the southern terminus of the Appalachian Trial.  It was here, in cabin #4, that I proposed to Brenda, and for some foolish reason, she accepted.  My family spent every vacation there at the Falls.  For several years, my dad would comute to work from there for about half the week.  There wasn’t much to do there, but play in the creek and climb the treacherous trails that, at that time, went up both sides of the falls.  We caught water snakes and occasionally made a foray for trout.  Such plesant memories, the kind that seem fictional.

As I write this, we are on the road again, this time headed for the beach. By the time you read this, we will have been back for weeks, but we are presently logging more miles.  Brenda and I have logged a lot of those- miles that is.  We have traveled across the USA, and as far as China together.  And indeed life is a journey in itself.  I am Blessed indeed to have such a great traveling companion.  Neither of us ever anticipated the nature or length of this journey. Neither of us anticipated the Blessings in store, nor did we anticipate the challenges in store.

But, anticipation may well be overrated.  CS Lewis pointed out that our happiness is partly dependent on our anticipation.  If we anticipate the worst we can be pleasantly reprised, or if we anticipate the best, we can easily be disappointed.

Life’s a journey, but where we are headed is really much more crucial than how we get there.  I am headed, in my most sane moments. Along with the Apostle Paul, for the upward call of Christ.

How about you?