When given the opportunity to head across the country and away from the cold, my bags were packed and I was ready to go in no time. My mom hasn't had a real vacation in at least two years and she decided she wanted to drive to the house in Arizona and spend a couple of weeks away from Chicago. It was one of the best last minute decisions ever.
As I packed my bag and headed (the opposite way) to Indiana for a youth retreat, thoughts of Arizona and warmth overwhelmed me. It had been about 5 years since I'd been to AZ. As soon as I got to the retreat and saw everyone, the trip scheduled for Monday morning was pushed to the back of my mind. I had a fantastic weekend reconnecting with the kids, playing outside, and seeing my friend again.
On the way home from the retreat on Sunday I got to stop and visit a friend I served with in Uganda in 2008-2009. I got to visit Nick's church, see where he works, and cook yummy Ethiopian with him. It was so nice to spend time with someone so familiar and understanding of my thoughts and emotions about being back in America.
Sunday night I got home, packed, and slept for about 3 hours before my mom, my brother and his dog, and I hit the road. It's about a 28 hour drive to Phoenix, but armed with satellite radio, my iPod, and some snacks and pop, we were off. I drove all the way through Illinois and Missouri, but by the time Oklahoma hit I was pretty tired. My brother drove for about 3 hours before we got dinner and I felt recharged for the drive through the night. I finished off Oklahoma, Texas, and more than half of New Mexico before I couldn't stay awake anymore. It was about 3am at this point and I'd been awake for 23 hours, coming off a weekend of little sleep, and 3 hours of sleep the night before. I slept for about 40 minutes and then was pretty awake. My brother drove until we hit Gallup, NM where we stopped for breakfast. The sun began to creep over the mountains as I got back in the driver's seat to finish off the trip.
Now if any of you have ever ridden long distance in the car with me... you know that as long as there's music on, I'm rocking out. There's only one good Christian station on satellite radio and it pretty well plays the top 30 in Christian music. I often found myself channel surfing and landing on the 90's station. I didn't have much of a voice by the time we would stop for gas and to be honest I didn't really care if I was keeping everyone else awake. I sing because I care! I sing to stay awake. I love road trippin' simply because I like the opportunity to think, pray, and sing. I had good amounts of time with the Lord as we cruised through the Great Plains into the Southwest.
As we crossed into Arizona, with the sun illuminating the mountains, I was breathless. I've driven these same roads back and forth many times over the last 13 years. I've seen all the sights... I've stopped at many of the rest stops. The radio started playing Steven Curtis Chapman's song Fingerprints of God just as these awesome gems of creation came into view. What struck me is that I'd normally change the channel when old Steven songs come on because they're way played out and some are way high on the cheese-o-meter in my opinion. (don't be offended if you're a fan, I do like some of his stuff.) However, for whatever reason I let the song play and took the opportunity to praise the Lord for what His hands have made. What a beautifully creative God we serve! How awesome is He?! From the red soil and desert of New Mexico, into the northern Arizona mountains capped with bright white snow... amazing. I found myself way more energized and excited about finally being back in Arizona.
In high school, I despised this state for capturing my family. In college it was a fun place to visit... spring break, Cubs games, working with friends at Walgreens. After college I only came twice... once for Thanksgiving (and to help my parents move) and once to help my brother. Since then I've pretty well stayed east of the Mississippi.
We got in that Tuesday morning, rested and enjoyed the 80 degree weather. Wednesday I found a local UM church to attend for Ash Wed service. It's right in the middle of some big neighborhoods so I figured there'd be a good mix of people. I was wrong. I was the youngest person there in their tiny little sanctuary. After convincing myself to stay, I settled in to a beautiful service. Worship began and I found that aside from the worship leader and about 3 of the other 45 people in there, I was one of the only people singing on key. What was so beautiful was that it didn't matter. Normally that kind of thing distracts me and keeps me from being able to focus, but not that day. I found it lovely to be sitting amongst God's beloved children.
The next few days were filled with laying in the sun, reading, and being ridiculously sick. I always get sick when I change climates, plus some of Trent's youth kids were sick over the weekend. It was almost inevitable. It began on Thursday and 4 tissue boxes later, I'm still not feeling well. I did get up and go to church on Sunday. There is another place pretty close to home that I've been wanting to try. I was pretty skeptical going into it because the church is huge! We're talking HUGE. There are separate wings for youth and children's ministry. It's a beautiful building and the parking lot was full of nice cars. I immediately assumed that I would walk in unnoticed and be ignored, just based on the appearance. How judgmental of me! It was great! I was greeted happily by those I was sitting near and I felt comfortable as soon as I dropped my guard. The music was good, the preaching was challenging, and I found people to be (mostly) down to earth. I didn't stick around of check into it too much because I had plans after the service, plus I was sneezing all over everything, but it was a great morning and I believe God was glorified! I was quickly reminded that it's not about my comfort or my experience, but about coming together as believers and worshipping the One true God.
Needless to say, I've really enjoyed my time here thus far. Aside from the whole feeling-like-death thing, of course. Praise God.
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