But you know what they say about the best laid plans....
We didn't exactly schedule this but Kelley and I decided this weekend that the time has come for us to move to town. So we picked out precisely where we want to live, checked the Web, found a great place, made a visit, signed a lease, and now we're planning our move. Mind you, we woke up Friday morning knowing that "someday" we want to move closer to town. So all of this happened this weekend. We begin moving into the townhouse in a couple of weeks. Here it is, right on the corner.
Whenever I get up to leave, it will be the last long ride that begins and ends in the garage where my bike has always lived. From now on it will live under a carport and wake up the neighbors. I'll suddenly be "that guy" in the complex. But an 8 minute commute to work for each of us is worth it.
But it does mean a serious adjustment to my trip planning. What was supposed to be a quick but interesting dash to Northern California followed by a long leisurely tour through the West has suddenly become a quick dash in both directions followed by getting our house ready to sell and moving into town.
How do I explain how it feels to know, at the same time, that we are doing a crazy thing and that we are doing exactly what we need to be doing at the same time? To me, that about sums up my experience of what following God in my life has always meant.
Crazy things happen but they turn out to be some of the best learning experiences in our lives. I make stupid decisions but God redeems them and there are nice surprises on the other side. The whole thing is a grand adventure.
I'm not taking much stuff this trip. A few clothes, packing for both hot and cold. Water. Anything else I need I can get in gas stations and they do have grocery stores on the way. I'm looking forward to trying my new camera. And I'm looking forward to writing about the trip along the way. I've reached that stage, I guess, where creating memories also means creating shared memories that can last longer than my memory can.
This afternoon I attended the 100th anniversary of the first church I was called to as an associate pastor. I sat next to my senior pastor, my mentor, a man I am blessed to have known. Amazingly, I remembered a lot of names. I saw faces of people who were very important to me at one time. They remain important but in a very different sort of way.
The church seemed familiar but I clearly had a sense that I have moved on. Time has passed. Change has happened. Some of the change has been growth.
Best of all, I got to sit between my daughter and my grandson. I got to hold my little 5 week old granddaughter until my nose told me that she really wanted her mother.... I felt old. And happy. And content. I realized that "old" is the price you pay for this kind of gratitude and I'm thinking it is a sweet deal.
Now it is time for sleep and adventure. The adventure of riding through the air only to turn around and ride back home again. The adventure of setting forth into a whole new way of living with my wonderful wife and partner, and my delightful, beautiful, step-daughter. And I'm realizing now, with only another sentence to write, that one the reasons I love taking long rides is knowing that the first mile I ride away is merely one mile closer to returning home.
I trust that I'm living God's best laid plans for my life and I'm grateful.
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