July has been a month of travel. Since the beginning of the month, we've driven to the following events:
That's a total of over 3600 miles of windshield time. Yikes.
When we're traveling with kids, driving long distances can swing from boredom to fun to chaos in mere seconds. But between iPods, laptops, DVD players, and the radio, we found ourselves needing to be very intentional about pushing pause and having real conversations. Or even (gasp) silence.
Music, movies, caffeine, and pistachios were acceptable (and even necessary) during the trek across Nebraska. But when driving through the Rockies, we needed to press pause and look around at the beauty. When we forced our kids to turn off all their technology and just experience the beauty of God's Creation, the hours of being stuck in a vehicle were quickly forgotten. We were awestruck. After several miles of driving over mountain passes, through deep canyons, and alongside gorgeous rivers, our eight year-old said, "Now THIS is nature!"
In some ways, our July excursions have been a microcosm of our everyday life. Too much noise (from electronics and fighting/whining/complaining), too many things on the to-do list, and too much stuff competing for our time and attention. So how do we press pause for a chunk of time: time to reflect on what's important, to think clearly, and to communicate with (and experience) God? Just like with windshield time, I've got to be intentional: otherwise I might be missing out on some breathtaking God-moments.
How about you? What do you do to escape the chaos of life and spend time with God?
©1994-2020 Cru. All Rights Reserved.
