Sunday, June 26, 2011

The Journey

We are returning home tonight from an incredible 9 day journey to British Columbia. My husband and I have long heard tales of Malibu, a premier Young Life camp, located in the picturesque Princess Louisa Inlet. When we discovered an opportunity to serve as Camp Doc for the week, we seized it.

Once we had signed up to serve, we learned one of the primary reasons the beauty is so pristine...it is incredibly difficult to get to Malibu. Last Friday morning we left home at 7:30am and arrived in Vancouver (by way of Atlanta, ten Toronto) 14 hours later. The next morning we set out on the next 6 hours of the journey...by way of rental car, ferry boat (with rental on board), more driving and then another three hour boat cruise along the Strait of Georgia.

At one point Saturday morning my hubby quipped, "I hope this place is worth it." I shared his same fear that after all our anticipation, the expense and the toil of the journey (with three weary children), we might be disappointed.

When we arrived it was overwhelmingly clear that the journey had been more than worth it. I will do subsequent posts with details and photos, but the bottom line is that this trip defied my every expectation. It was simply incredible!

I couldn't help but think of Heaven...for lots of reasons...but the metaphor that really struck me was the one of the journey being doable when the destination is so desirable. The sacrifice, the exhaustion bring us closer to our traveling companions AND make us ever appreciative of the reward of arriving.

I suppose, therefore, it is fitting that I am typing this on my iPhone from the floor in a terminal in Tallahassee, Florida. We were circling Atlanta for 30 minutes before being diverted here due to bad weather.

I am reminded that diversions are a real part of the journey as well...but trust in a sovereign God who has purpose even in this. Ah, the challenge of finding JOY in the journey!

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