2-6-22 Traveling Heart
Quote: “You will never be completely at home again, because part of your heart always will be elsewhere. That is the price you pay for the richness of loving and knowing people in more than one place.”
What comes to mind when you think of these words? Passport, airline tickets, suitcases, carry ons, exit, traffic, bus route, terminal, map, trail, road trip, packing, caravan, departure.
For some of you it brings instant anxiety! Are we will all going to make it there in one piece?! Will I lose my sanity along the way? Is it worth all the planning? My husband used to be this way. I would tell him about a trip idea and he’d run away with his fingers in his ears yelling, “Nooooo!” LOL He’s used to it now and every trip we take, he always says, “Okay, that was super stressful at the beginning but it was totally worth it!”
There is a problem with traveling and meeting new people though. If it’s a trip that was loved by all with deep impact on your mental and emotional senses – you end up hating the thought of leaving. The experience can be so rich that you begin planning your trip back there on the way home. Your heart feels a little bit empty…it’s as if you are leaving a little piece of your heart there with the people and places you left.
I am so lonesome for some of my friends in places far away from me. I have 3 friends in Florida and North Carolina that I miss so much. I’ve got a bestie in Alabama that I would give anything to have just one cup of tea with. And I’ve got a village and city in Guatemala that I can’t hardly type about without crying, just picturing their faces. I have been to Guatemala almost every year since 2013, sometimes even twice a year. Every time I go I meet someone new that just grabs my heart. Little Gregory is my son Logan’s buddy, Lucy is my “adopted” daughter that is now a Mama herself, Jerry is my jungle touring friend, Luis is my Guatemalan dad, Pamela and Sheldon are my Canadian/Guatemalan parents, Mama Blanca and Gris are our mother hens, Giovanni is our safe driver… the list goes on and on. They all are a piece of my past and hold a special place in my heart. I miss them so deeply!
But when we put ourselves out there and meet new people and go new places, we expand our hearts and minds. We learn about different cultures, see firsthand how they live, hear their stories, and bond over our similarities. It doesn’t matter if you camp next to a new family in a town 40 miles from home or get on a plane and visit a new country. You get out what you put it in. If you take risks and get to know people, you never know who you are going to cross paths with.
The Bible says in Proverbs 16:9, “The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.” What an amazing verse!
When our family goes on a vacation, whether a short trip or a month long trip, we do everything we can to prepare financially and physically. We do our research, we penny pinch for bigger trips or excursions, and we plan, plan, plan. But then the cool part happens that the second part of this verse talks about. We let God take over. We wake up and say, “All right Lord, who are you going to put in our path today? Who are we going to meet?!” And then we let him come into our plans and have his way.
He has shown up through strangers in the craziest of ways. I left my cell phone one time somewhere in Tennessee and the couple that found it narrowed it down to it being ours and ended up giving us free tickets to an amusement park! I was in a dance contest one time in Mexico and I had to graciously accept defeat after this young girl won (even though I thought I was the way better dancer – lol) and she ended up being the sister of one of my colleagues! One time in Maine, I ended up getting lobster from this guy that turns out was on one of those reality fishing shows! And one time, we ended up camping next to a Spanish speaking family that we befriended and they made us authentic Mexican food for breakfast the next day!
You just never know how God is going to show up when you take a trip and let him take over while you’re there. Traveling leaves endless opportunities for the unimaginable to happen. Won’t you leave a piece of your heart somewhere in 2022?
