Where the rubber meets the highway (or: lessons learned on the road)

What has:

2,600 miles

15 stops with various friends and relations

11 states

6 boxes of cereal

5 travel bags (most of which are full of food & diapers)

4 weeks

3 girls

and

1 tired/thrilled mom?

A 2012 Very Hunter Summer Road Trip, that's what!!

Our route!

We left town on July 19th and did not get home until August 15th. The girls & I visited friends and family in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, New Jersey, and Connecticut. There were many sweet memories and fun & impromptu field trips. There were some unexpected delays in travel (severe rain, a full-blown diaper disaster in the carseat, construction, a logging truck accident, and getting lost in both DC & NYC, among others...).

Quiet reading time with my cousins in VT!

I got to reminisce with dear high school and college friends, stay up late with cousins, aunts & uncles I don't get to see often, and to meet a online friend for real! We got to worship the Lord with dear brothers & sisters in northern Vermont and southern Pennsylvania. The girls did a little exploring in the cold ocean waters in Maine and swam in the warm ocean waters of Virginia Beach. They got to ride 4-wheelers with Grandaddy, go kayaking with Grammy & Grampy, and pick their own fresh fruits and veggies from Gram's very own garden. We rode a coal train in PA with Will's Gram. Feeding worms was a hit; painting birdhouses with Auntie Kimm was too; so was playing with all kinds of new toys at other friends' houses. We ate a lot of chicken nuggets and pizza and hot dogs (no complaints at all from the taste-testing department...!) It was a lovely, memorable, exhausting, so-glad-I-did-it-but-it'll-take-a-while-before-I'm-ready-to-drive-on-the-highway-again kind of trip!

E &A, in Casco Bay ME

I had a lot of time to think. Driving between 3-6 hours in between most stops with girls mostly content in the back seats left plenty of opportunities to pray and to listen to the Lord. I thought, initially, that this trip was going to be a 'school on the road' type opportunity for the girls and that it would be a chance for us to catch up with so many people that we don't see often enough.

Ready to head out on the road...again!

But that's not all the Lord had in store for us. It did happen that by the time we got home, I felt like we'd been doing school for about a month already :) and I did get to catch up with people who are so dear to my heart. And in the midst of all of that, here are some lessons the Lord had for me:

*I don't like not knowing where I am, or where I'm going. Jesus kept reminding me of the verse I have over my kitchen sink at home to calm my nervous heart (especially in Washington DC and New York City - eeeek, of all places to be lost!): Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. [Joshua 1:9] Wherever I go. Even in a city I'm not familiar with. Even on Pennsylvania Avenue (which is where we ended up on accident in DC!). No matter where I am, physically or spiritually - Jesus is with me wherever I go. I need not be afraid! There is such freedom in that truth!

This...is not where I was supposed to be!

...neither was this. Impromptu national history lesson
with a captive audience in the back rows!

*As much as I wanted to minister to other people, He used them powerfully to minister to me in ways that I couldn't have imagined. I got to wash dishes and fold laundry and hold babies and do a few other tasks for the families I stayed with, thinking I was being so helpful; and in return, I was challenged, encouraged, and built up in my faith in Christ!

The girls adore their Grandaddy! At Hunter Farm in VA

Hanging out in the "hampster" (hammock...) at
Mr. Tim & Miss Ashley's!

*Life is too short to wait until there's enough time and/or money. There are so many reasons why it seemed like a bad idea to take a 12-year-old rickety Windstar on the road by myself with three little girls with only a few hundred dollars in cash. I had a list of things I could have spent that money on: paying down debt, ordering homeschooling books, putting it in savings, etc. But the trip was so very worth every moment and every dollar spent. I am thankful that Will encouraged me to go!!

Enjoying a beautiful afternoon with Nana (Will's Gram!)
just before taking a ride on the coal train in PA.

*I have a lot to learn from other people - especially when they believe differently than I do! I know this seems like it should be a no-brainer, but sometimes it's easy for me to forget. Paul went to Athens to preach, but he wasn't ignorant of the Greek culture and belief systems there. Listening to the whys and hows of different beliefs broadens my perspective. It strengthened my faith to be challenged by hearing about other religions and by being asked honest and hard questions about my own beliefs!

FRESH raspberries from Gram's garden!

* Life in NH can continue without me. Whoa! This was a hard lesson for my ego. I'm so used to being involved in different capacities outside our home. And what a refreshing reminder for my soul that it is the Lord who is in charge, not me! He is perfectly capable of guiding things quite well in my absence (and, incidentally, when I'm around!). He gently reminded me that my main priority right now is the care and keeping of my family, and that some outside ministry opportunities can wait for another season!

Chillin' at Grammy & Grampy Lane's cabin in ME!

*Will is still my best friend. After being on the road for a month without him, and spending time with friends, relatives - some of whom I consider very close to me - I realized that even my closest friends do not know me as well as he does after all these years (12! wowee!). If something came up that reminded me of Will, and I thought "oh! He'd think that was funny/cute/ridiculous/whatever", ...I'd miss being able to turn to him right away and say that. By the time I left our last stop I had butterflies in my tummy and I was so giggly and just wanted to get home to him and share everything about the last month and hear all about how he had been. After 8 years of being married and having 3 kids, it's really easy to forget that hey, we used to like just hanging out and being around each other and that we were friends before we were husband & wife. It was sweet to be reminded of that.

At the welcome center in PA! Smile!

Before we left for the trip, I was terrified by the what-ifs. What if we break down? What if we run out of money? What if one of the girls gets sick? etc. But Will encouraged me to go, and I'm so glad that he did. 

Virginia Beach!

What if I hadn't? I would have missed out on sweet conversations, treasured memories, and the lessons that God had for me out on the road.

Feeding the worms at Mr. Iain & Miss Erin's house!!

What discoveries & lessons have you made on your travels & journeys? 

And...back home!

A pilgrim just traveling along,

for His glory!

~Lisha :)

do justly, love mercy, walk humbly

{written 02.08.2008}

(6) with what shall i come before the LORD, 
and bow myself before the High God? 
shall i come before Him with burnt offerings, 
with calves a year old? 
(7) will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, 
ten thousand rivers of oil? 
shall i give my firstborn for my transgression, 
the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? 
(8) He has shown you, o man, what is good; 
and what does the LORD require of you 
but to do justly, 
to love mercy, 
and to walk humbly with your God? 
[micah 6:6-8] 

This was my Bible reading the other day (the book of the prophet micah, chapter 6). The Israelites were really big into sacrificing things to the Lord as a way of paying for their sins...it was a big part of the Mosiac Law (the law that God gave to Moses after the Hebrews were set free from Egypt). But they got so wrapped up in the sacrificing that they lost touch with the One they were supposed to be sacrificing these things to. In verses 6 and 7, I think Micah is being kind of sarcastic. If God would be happy with a sacrifice of one ram for my sins, how much happier would He be with 10,000 of them?! How about my very own child! Wow! Wouldn't God just love me so much if I sacrifice more, more, more? 

But then Micah reminds the Israelites: God does not require more and more sacrifice. God isn't as impressed with the physical sacrifice as He is with the attitude of our hearts. "what does the LORD require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?" (v.8) 

And oh, how true it is for us, even today. We are bombared with the message that if we just live better, if we try harder, if we give more, God will be more pleased with us, perhaps earning us a spot in heaven when we die. 

God never said that; man made that part up. 

Maybe it's because we feel better when we do more good things than someone else. It's easier to feel better about ourselves when we have tangible proof of our 'goodness.' 

But, my friends, I am pleading with you to realize that you and I cannot please God with things or with multiple good deeds. The season of Lent started yesterday...many people (you may be included) give up something for Lent. For some, it's chocolate; others, gossip; still others, shopping. Do you do it out of love for the true God, or do you do it because 'it's the right thing to do?' God isn't happier with you when you say more Our Fathers or do more penance; it doesn't please Him more when you get involved with more community activities and more church committees. What He cares most about, what He requires of you and I, is simple: 
 

Do all that you do out of a heart of love for God. Read His very words (the Bible), and see how much God loves you already (even without all of those good deeds! He loved you before you were born, and He will love you always, even if you don't do a lot of good things, and even if you've done some really, really bad things! Even if you question right now whether or not He even exists!) Admit that you are not the god of your life; admit that there is no other God; humble yourself before the Lord, and He will lift you up. There is nothing God desires more than for you to have a real relationship with Him, and for you to believe that He loves you enough to send Jesus to die for everything that you have ever done wrong. My dear, dear friend...you will not get into heaven for just being a good person or by following the rules of your church. God, through His sacrifice of His own Son, has already opened the door of heaven to you. You don't have to do anything to earn His favor and eternal life except believe that. But don't take my word for it; take His! 

"...if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the Scripture says, 'Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.' [Isaiah 28:16] For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. For 'whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.' [Joel 2:32]" -Romans 10:9-13