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What's A Trip Without Detours?
The last of May and the first of June we drove our little car over 3500 miles.
We started at home (in Pharr, Texas), went all the way to Topeka, Kansas through
Houston, Northwest Arkansas and the Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri. It was a
refreshing change of pace for both of us, and our daughter - who had been living
in Kansas - returned with us.
When I travel in a car, I suppose I must admit: I'm the typical male in
resisting any requests for directions. I glance at a map, and perhaps run a
computer program for a good route, then set out on the journey depending on the
special ability males have to navigate.
Sometimes my "system" fails. Somewhere in east Texas we took a few wrong turns,
and almost went to Arkansas from Texas through Louisiana! On the return trip, we
also had a few little changes in our plan - again, in East Texas. (Those signs
and highway markers in east Texas are really a problem!)
I usually dismiss these detours under the philosophy that plans are subject to
change, and we still eventually arrive at our destination.
And life is like that. Especially in the years of our youth, we make all sorts
of plans about how things will be in middle age and retirement. Sooner or later
we must face the disappointment and frustration of changing our plans. Things
come up we didn't anticipate. Hopefully, our destination remains the same.
As I thought about these things, the latest issue of CHRISTIANITY MAGAZINE
arrived with an article by W. Frank Walton: "DETOUR AHEAD."
Quoting Frank: "Detours are part of our life's journey and happen especially at
inconvenient times. Annoying potholes in the road of life appear unexpectedly,
jarring us into reality about life's road hazards. It's unrealistic to always
expect everything to go according to schedule. Life has a fair amount of waiting
and 'down time' ... Don't make a detour a prison that shackles your journey
toward God."
Enjoy your vacation travel time. And when you return home - be sure to catch up
on your downloads of Expository Files.
By Warren E. Berkley
The Front Page
From Expository Files 3.7; July 1996
