brent(inWorship)

3 Things I Learned While Moving Across The Country

My family and I just spent 5 days on the road moving from Oregon to Tennessee. When I look back on this, I can actually say that it wasn’t that bad. Good conversation. Beautiful scenery. And there is something fun about staying in different states every night. At least for a short period of time.

While driving, I had lots of time to think. As I come away from the trip, Im able to look back and see some simple things that I learned while on the road. I think some of these things relate to what I do in ministry.

#1 Just Keep Moving…
Driving a big moving truck creates new and interesting issues. Our truck had an overheating problem and at times we were going over mountain passes as high as 8500 feet. The first pass we reached, I had to stop 2 different times and park the truck at the side of the road so it could cool down. Needless to say, this left us about 2 hours behind schedule on the first day.

As time went along, I noticed that if I just kept moving, air would properly pass through the radiator and the truck would make it over the hills. I definitely had to slow down. Sometimes even to a crawl. But, if I didnt stop, we got over the hill and stayed on schedule. In life, we often hit an obstacle and instead of moving and working through it, we stop. Maybe hoping it will go away or fix itself. But it wont. It has to be addressed.

We have to quit giving up every time we hit an obstacle. We grow when we go through trial, not when we avoid it.

#2 Its Not About What I Have
As I said, our truck was rough. At each fill up of gas I would also add 2 gallons of radiator fluid. The truck also leaked like crazy. The door molding was pretty much gone. I could stick my hand through the door cracks to the outside, when the door was closed. This proved interesting when we drove through a massive thunderstorm in Missouri. Also, we had no A/C. Thats right, we handled the trip across country with only the outside air. Let’s just say it… the truck was a piece of crap.

But, we arrived, on time and intact. Our goal was to move from Oregon to Tennessee. And we did it. Regardless of the equipment we were using to get there. We adapted, adjusted and even wrestled a time or two to get that truck to do what we needed. And still, we are here. At times we have to get creative and roll up our sleeves and get dirty.

Too often, we get caught up in the lack of tools or resources we have, when we should be focusing more on the task at hand. Its not about what I have, its about where Im going.

#3 The World is A Lot Bigger Than Me
One of the coolest things about this trip was the chance to drive through and sometimes stay in places I have never been. I love the journey. I love experience. Each night we were in a different town in a different state.

One evening we were in Cheyenne, Wyoming. We stopped into a mall there to do a little shopping. I found myself walking through the mall and seeing all these people. I was so interested in knowing who they were. Why did they live here? What do they do? Do they even like Wyoming? We had driven through the state that day, and I cant say I was overly impressed. It was dry and pretty boring to drive through. I couldnt understand why people would want to live in this huge city in the middle of nowhere. Then I realized how arrogant that was.

As a Pastor, I often have found myself so wrapped up in my needs, my ministry, my schedule that I have flat out ignored the people and needs directly around me. Its easy for me to think that what I do and where I live is most important. If people are not here, they dont get it. Its embarrassing to say, but its true.

Its easy to get lost in our own world. We need to look outside our own comfort and continually pour into the world around us. That’s what God has asked us to do.

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Anyway, we are here. On a new journey. Enjoying the new opportunity to serve, live and pour into a new group of people. Its going to be a stretch in many ways, but we are excited to see God work!