On an Adventure

My mother has always said "we're not lost, we are on an adventure."  Usually this was when she decided to try another route rather than the tried and true one.  We would meander along back roads and rural highways until she would inevitably proclaim either "oh, this is where this road goes" or "I thought this is where we might end up".  With all these adventures, we never were lost (at least to my knowledge as a child) and always ended up back home at the end of the day.

I still like to take these kinds of adventures periodically.  Michael and I will set out on one of my days off and just head into a particular direction that we hadn't gone before to see what we might discover.  One vacation - on my own - I decided for the better part of 2 weeks to not plan out my route or itinerary beforehand.  Each morning when I woke up, I would set off in a different direction, finding a place at the end of the day to lay my head.  It was one of the best solo vacations I ever took!

Most of the time our daily routes are pretty established.  If our cars had auto pilot, they would follow the same path that we take day in and day out.  These paths might vary a bit depending on our particular to-do items for the day - side trips to the grocery store, doctor's office, mechanic and the like.  Yet, overall we are creatures of habit and our car tires have made ruts in the pavement along this daily route.

How much of our lives are like this?  I had someone remark to me recently that "life seems to be a to-do list".  We end up marking our lives by our habit and routines.  Yes, there are certain things that need to be done (don't let me forget to pick up more milk for my cereal tomorrow morning).  There is food to be bought, clothes to be cleaned, bills to be paid, gas to be pumped and the list goes on.

How many of us would say that our "life is an adventure" rather than a to-do list?  Do we just wait for our vacations or that proverbial time in the future when we can start life's adventure?

I think about the disciples in the Gospels when Jesus first called them.   They were immersed in their routines of fishing, mending nets and fixing their boats.  These things had been done for generations as well as day in and day out.  Yet, Jesus stepped in and took them on an adventure that they would never have imagined!  No longer rowing across the water every day, but traveling around the countryside, meeting all kinds of people, experiencing Jesus' words, miracles and action, going to new places...

Some will be called today outside of their routines to go on an adventure, to travel elsewhere.  Sometimes that adventure is just waiting for us around the corner as we break from our well traveled paths to discover or try something new.  We are invited to put aside our to-do lists, looking out and forward to what adventure God might have in mind for us.

God invites us on an adventure!  Are you ready to follow?