When I was a little kid, we took a lot of road trips to visit my grandma who lived on the Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri. I loved going to visit her and I also loved the trip.
We had to drive up a mountain on a long winding road, often at night, to get to her house. It seems like someone would always get car sick and someone was always singing. The singing seemed to distract us from the sickness, but it helped the time go by faster too. The songs would vary, but inevitably we would end up singing, “She’ll be coming around the mountain” when we knew we were getting close. We’d sing and sing . . . until finally, we’d make it around the mountain.
Then no matter, day or night, snow or sleet, Grandma would be standing on her porch waiting for us when we pulled in.
As I reflect on those memories as an adult, it doesn’t make a lot of sense that I remember enjoying those trips. It was an eight hour drive with 6 people and pets crammed in a car (or van, as it were ;-)). We didn’t make many stops. Oh no, we had a porta-potty! You had to do your business while we kept moving.
It probably wasn’t really fun.
I think it’s because I remember the whole trip as the pilgrimage to see Grandma. And it was worth it. Everything that went along with seeing Grandma was worth it.
It didn’t matter how bad the car smelled, how hot, or how cramped it was. It didn’t matter how long the drive was or how that road just seemed like it would never end. It didn’t matter because I knew one thing.
At the end, I would see Grandma’s face, and she was always worth coming around that mountain!
What’s the journey in your life today that seems never-ending? What’s the stinky, hot, cramped, mess of a journey you feel like you’re on? Are you on the winding journey around a mountain?
If your heart is set on a destination today, even if you can’t see around the next bend, even if the night is black and the turns are steep, keep driving.
I know you’re tired. You might feel sick. I know you wonder if you’re ever going to get there.
Start singing.
You will get there.
Best of all, when you look back, it’s the journey you’ll remember in the end.
We’ll be sitting on the porch waiting, singing out to you. She’ll be coming round the mountain when she comes….
And you will.
to more love,
Crystal
