A Verse for When... You Need a Good Travel Companion
Where are my fellow travel lovers?! There’s nothing like hatching an idea, doing your (fun!) research, making a plan, buying tickets, booking reservations and hitting the road (or the skies) to explore and adventure. I just love walking down new streets and pathways and covering unfamiliar ground. Taking in the sights and sounds of a big city, small town or even a forest path or beachfront walkway is a glorious thing.
While it’s especially exhilarating to visit new places where I’ve never been before, there are a few locations that I love returning to time and time again. Washington D.C. is one of those places for me! Anytime I’m in the D.C. area, I will find a way to get to the National Mall and “walk the mons.” Those impressive, historic monuments never lose their splendor in my humble opinion. I usually start at either the Lincoln Memorial or the U.S. Capitol Building, and either walk to the opposite end of the Mall or, depending on my schedule and the weather, walk a complete loop. From gazing up at the top of the Washington Monument to just stopping in reverent silence and looking at President Lincoln towering above me in his stately chair inside the Lincoln Memorial, my familiar path around the National Mall offers moment after moment of satisfaction and joy.
Believe it or not, I’ve walked the familiar path around the national monuments enough to know the road pretty well. If a new sign has appeared or a new construction project has popped up, I notice it! And I also have a few “traditions” while I walk the mons. For example, on the stretch of sidewalk between the Washington Monument and the Capitol, I love slipping into the American History Museum and beelining straight for the First Ladies exhibit. Seeing the regal gowns worn by presidents’ wives over the years remains thrilling for a U.S. history geek like me! I also slow down enough to take a lap around the World War II monument when I’m passing it by. And before or after seeing the Capitol, I will 100% of the time zip down the sidewalk to get an order of garlic knots from We the Pizza down the street. One of my favorite routines, though, is calling my dad when I’ve climbed the steps up into the Lincoln Memorial. My dad loves Abraham Lincoln, and when he’s in D.C., he enjoys re-reading the Gettysburg Address and Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address, which are both printed inside the two end-walls of the Lincoln Memorial. So if I’m there without him, I always call him while I’m standing up there just to say hello from the good ol’ Abe. 🙂
Those well-traveled paths we journey along carry special satisfaction and joy, don’t they? As someone who loves the thrill of travel, my eyes widened and my heart skipped a beat when I read this verse from The Message translation of the Bible:
And how blessed all those in whom you live, whose lives become roads you travel. -Psalm 84:6a
The “you,” of course, is God! Doesn’t it just make your insides swell with astonishment to think about your life being a road that God travels upon? He’s familiar with it! He knows every bend of the path, every crack in the sidewalk. He knows you way more intimately than I know my way around the National Mall, and that realization is the best thought I’ve considered all day. Nothing about you surprises God, and no situation you find yourself in is an emergency for Him. He knows what makes you tick, and He knows what makes you laugh. But not only does He know, He’s also intimately present for every step of your life journey.
You are blessed when God lives in you, when you let Him travel the roads of your life. God is always up for the adventure! Whether you’re starting a brand new job or settling in for the exact same Tuesday night routine you’ve had for years, when you invite Him in, you are blessed. So what are you waiting for? He’s sure to be a travel companion like no other. Invite Jesus into every little part of your life, and let Him journey along the road with you.