You remember Goldilocks. She visited some bears. She sat in their chairs and she ate their porridge and she slept in their beds. And what she discovered as she did all that was that this one is too hard, and this one is too soft, and this one is just right.
What does that have to do with life on the road?
Last week was our middle week. It was week number six on the road. Five weeks preceded it, and there are now five weeks left in this adventure. Throughout our adventure, some things have been great and some things not so much. Particularly last week, in our middle week, that was true.
Last week, some things were good. And some things were great. And then there were the not-so-much things. Among the not-so-good things, all the beds we slept in last week were, to quote Goldilocks, too soft.
We began the week in Kansas City. I enjoyed the time there, and would really have loved to see more of the city. But, when we arrived on Sunday it was pouring rain, and Monday brought extreme heat warnings. Monday was not a good day to be out and about, and then we left on Tuesday. That's the bad news about Kansas City. The good news is that we ate some of the best food of the trip while we were in Kansas City.
After Kansas City, we headed to St. Louis. We had a great hotel there with a very friendly and helpful staff. I celebrated a birthday while we were there. We had a delicious meal, shared with friends, and which included chocolate cake! Good times!
The down side of our time in St. Louis was a really bad hair cut. I haven't had hair this short since I've had hair! Except for the very top of my head which looks pretty much like a bad toupee! The good news of this horror story is that my hair will grow, and that it usually grows pretty fast. And I won't have to pay for a haircut any time soon!
We left St. Louis on Saturday morning and headed up toward central Illinois. We had a good dinner and good conversation on Saturday night with our friends Myra and Dave. And on Sunday we worshiped with Rich and Linda, friends from our Connecticut days. Rich is now pastoring in Urbana, Illinois, and we very much enjoyed worshiping there on Sunday morning. After church, we had a great visit with Rich and Linda on Sunday afternoon. We had nearly twenty years of catching up to do! Good times!
All in all, the "Goldilocks week" was more good than bad, particularly if you ignore the haircut. (And I wish I could! But it stares back at me every time I look in a mirror!)
Six weeks on the road, living out of suitcases, has been a grand adventure. But also quite a challenge. The longer we are away from home, the less patient we become, particularly when things don't go quite according to plan. I'm glad we thought to bring our own pillows; that particularly helps when the beds are less than comfortable. The challenge now is to eat well (meaning, making good, healthy choices), to get enough rest, and to be deliberate about building some relaxation and recreation into our schedule.
And as we finish out this adventure, we need to keep our focus on the positives, rather than on the negatives. That's good advice, isn't it, whether on the road or not. Focus matters. And we all get along in life better when our focus is on the good things, rather than on the less-than-we-would-like-them-to-be things. When we look at life with a glass-half-full, rather than a glass-half-empty, attitude.
But a right focus is much more than just putting on a happy face. It's much more than just maintaining a positive attitude. A right focus is a focus on Jesus. That's what the writer to the Hebrews tells us.
He tells us to lay aside the things that way us down. After six weeks of dealing with luggage and tote bags and back packs, and taking them in and out of hotel rooms, I well understand this word picture. Weighted down with stuff.
The writer to the Hebrews tells us to run the race that is set before us. Not the race that is set before someone else, but the race set before us. And he tells us not to try to run that race while we are carrying all the stuff that weights us down. And all the sin that we hold on to. We are to let that go. Lay it aside. All of it. Confess that sin and get rid of it.
Lay aside the sin. Run the race set before us. And run it with focus. Run the race with eyes fixed on Jesus.
That's an important truth to remember on a Monday morning. As you're going back to school. Or you're on a long road trip. Or you are doing the laundry and household chores. Or you're heading to the office.
Whatever is going on in your life or mine, it's an important truth to remember. When things are going well. And when they are not. In all the circumstances of life. Fix your eyes on Jesus.
"Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." (Hebrews 12:1-2 NASB, emphasis mine)
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