The Long and Winding Road{s}

5,000 miles. Over 70 hours of driving. Through 8 states. 3 weeks of time away from home.

Through these many miles and many days, we experienced and learned to express more deeply the way of "love in action" as described in Romans 12:9-21:

Love must be sincere. Be devoted to one another in love. 
Honor one another above yourselves. 

Our great love for our families carried us through the long days of driving, the fatigue and weariness of the constant chaos of upset routines and crying kiddos. We love them deeply and were so blessed to be able to journey to Oregon to see my mom, brothers and sister-in-law, niece, grandparents and dad, and then to Colorado to spend time with Zac's mom, uncles and aunts and cousins. While some of the trip did feel more like a "vacation," much of the time was a chance to serve and honor our family, and we were blessed in serving. The forced time in the van also gave us opportunity to work out those rough areas in our cranky hearts and to work to love one another more deeply and with more devotion and greater honor.

Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. 

There were a few tough and frustrating aspects of our trip - primarily revolving around our van - which caused some grief, took a lot of time and a great amount of money. By God's grace, we were able to remain {mostly} joyful and hopeful, patient and leaning in trust on God's faithfulness as we prayed for provision and protection. The Lord was gracious to provide through the generosity of our family and mechanics, and we made it safely there and back again with our van in one piece {with a few extra pieces added in}.

Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.

We were the recipients of the generosity and hospitality of our relatives all along the way who provided us with housing, food, gifts, delightful conversation, laughter, and blessed us with their love and prayers.

Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. 
Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. 
Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.
Live in harmony with one another. Live at peace with everyone. 
Do not repay anyone evil for evil. 
Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

The three weeks of our trip were dark weeks for our nation and world. On the road, we read of bombings, multiple shootings, and various acts of terror. Our hearts were heavy with grief for those who mourned the loss of loved ones, heavy with grief over the fear and hatred we witnessed overtaking our nation and turning our communities against one another, heavy with grief over the violence committed against innocent beautiful people created in God's image. We grieve, we mourn with those who mourn, we seek to comfort those in distress. We hate the evil that has been done and continues to be done.

But we do not turn our hate against our brother or our sister. Instead, we forgive. Instead, we bless. We hope and pray and work for peace. We learn to build bridges. We choose the higher road and repay evil with good. We strive to live in harmony - not struggling to be the same or in unison, not even always moving in the same directions, but flowing together in complementary tones, in glorious counterpoint of diversity orchestrated by the Master Composer in His Symphony of Humanity. 

And yet, our trip was full of light piercing and overcoming the darkness. We clung to all the good - the sweet smiles and laughter, memorable conversations, meals shared, adventures had; we soaked in the overwhelming beauty of the vast ocean, the majesty of the mountains, the calming peace of cascading waterfalls. We rejoice over the good happening in our lives, in the lives of our loved ones and friends. 

We are not overcome by darkness - no, we overcome darkness with Light. Our hope is steadfast in the Light, the True Light who shines in the darkness. The darkness has not and cannot overcome him. Jesus, the Light of the world, shines in and through us into a world that is lost and hurting, in turmoil and violence. 

So we shine on, preparing for another school year - loving sincerely, hating evil, clinging to good, working for peace.