Traveling Lightly

If you know us at all, you know we love to hop in a vehicle or two and take off for destinations near and far. As many trips as we have made, one would think that I might have learned by now to pack more lightly. 

Nope.

My imagination conjures up images of all the lovely opportunities we will have to experience a myriad of wonderfully enriching, exciting, educational, ennobling, and edifying events. 

And I pack accordingly.

Of course, we end up not needing a large percentage of the equipment I meticulously arranged, piecing it all in like a jigsaw puzzle so that there actually is some room left for the boring stuff, like clothes.

Now don't get me wrong, we have used many of the resources we drag along with us for thousands of miles. But, the energy expended to continually manage the multitude of items realistically needs to be weighed against the actual fruit borne. 

A musical interlude here for one of Michael Card's classics. I'm stretching the application a little, but I want to expand it beyond packing too much for a road trip, and beyond owning possessions that end up owning us. 

The Lord has been impressing upon us a new lesson for a new season.


Not only am I learning to shrink our packing lists for trips, but we are asking questions about shedding things that would prevent us from being flexible enough to go any direction the Lord asks us to go. What if He doesn't intend for us to continue to "settle in" where we are, with what we are doing now, expecting that to be the pattern for the rest of our lives? What if He wanted to prepare us to do something radically different than what we've always known?


He's done it before.


One example was several years ago. Kregg and I ended up on a plane to far eastern Siberia to bring home two little brothers for the five children He'd already blessed us with. He prepared us ahead of time, before we ever knew adoption was on the radar.


We find ourselves on the very cusp of a season that offers the potential for much more flexibility for our family than we've experienced for the past two decades. There are options potentially opening to us that cause us to ask the question: Is He preparing us for something that we may not anticipate?


We don't know.


But the thought keeps going around in our hearts that we need to be more careful than ever about any additional long-term commitments. We need to allow Him to tell us exactly what He wants us to use this season for so that we are not so encumbered by responsibilities that we can't respond when He asks us to, however He asks us to. We need to allow Him to keep our hearts open, so that we don't reject anything He might have for us.


That's kind of scary.


What if we don't like what He asks of us? What if He wants us to do something really nuts? 


We have to stand on the fact that, whatever He asks of us, His Grace will be sufficient for obedience. 


It may be that what we're doing now is what He'll have us doing when we're 90. Even if that's the case, learning to travel lightly will make us more efficient in any of the responsibilities He's already given us. Carrying more than He intends wearies our souls. If He ever plans to change our course, learning to travel lightly now will allow us to be ready when He calls. 


When we look at how Jesus walked this earth, He was completely unencumbered from ANYTHING that would interfere with His Purpose. He didn't own a bunch of stuff. He didn't commit to anything that would keep Him from moving toward His appointment in Jerusalem.  


I love The Message translation for Matthew 11:28-30:
"Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly."


That's the desire of our hearts in this season: to live freely and lightly in the unforced rhythms of Grace. Taking that as a mission statement helps us to have the wisdom and discernment to choose well how best to go forward from here.