Road Trip – Part Deux

I am driving cross-country with Melanie this week. Our route is CA to MO, in a few days time. So far, we'’re making good time. Our only deadline is Chicago, July 3, when I catch my flight back to Glasgow.
Today, we'’re headed to Denver (317 miles to go), where a friend has graciously offered us his apartment for the night. Hopefully tonight will be more restful in the vacant bachelor pad than last night's cheap motel.

Melanie is coping well with the weather phenomenonons the west has to offer. She just read a road sign warning about possible dust storms, and I don't think she liked it very much. She's driving through Utah today, saving the mountain driving for me, once we get into Colorado. I am okay with that. I like mountain driving.

I agreed to this trek with Mel for two reasons. I needed to see more of America (by car - after all, the road trip is a rite of passage, is it not?), and I needed some good time with my friend. So far, I have only seen one place I might want to relocate to if I ever moved back to the States, and that was in rural Utah. I am not convinced that this place beats rural Tennessee, which was (and may still be) the front-runner of places I'’d like to live in this country. Although, California is still pretty great. You can take the girl out of CA...…

Conversation-wise, I don't know that we'’ve solved any of the world'’s problems, or any of our own, but just doing this thing together and writing down stupid things we'’ve laughed over on the back of a Disneyland parking pass has been worth it's weight in...uh, gasoline (which, by the way, DOES get cheaper the further east you go).

Driving Note: I am happy to report that Melanie has just notified me that we have made it halfway through the "“dust storm area"” unscathed. Thanks be to God.

Mel and I are both processing what ministry looks like for us right now. We are wondering where we could be most effective. We'’ve both seen a lot of what we don'’t want this year - and the question remains, what do we want? While both of us have
traveled through less than idyllic moments in the last year, I think God is good to have allowed for these (moments) in our lives. They have been hard, but I say that He is good to allow this, because these are defining times. They show us the things we don'’t want in life.

Driving Note #2: We have now successfully driven through the "“dust storm area"”. Melanie is relieved, I think.

I have more questions than answers in my head about what I want right now, or what effective kingdom ministry for me should look like. Seems like I need some time to dream. I hear long drives are good for that...