Day 2 - There is No Place Like Home

           At the end of the Wizard of Oz movie Dorothy realizes there is no place like home. She decides she really didn’t want adventure after all. She wanted to stay right where she was, in Kansas with her family. Throughout her colorful adventure through the Land of Oz she was laser focused on her destination, but she seemed to miss out on enjoying her journey.
 

            She doesn’t linger in Munchkin Land more than a few minutes (for only a song or two!) before they show her the yellow brick road leading out of town. She hurries through the enchanted forest. And at one point she and her friends run through the poppy field when they see their destination, the emerald lights of Oz, in the distance.

            Dorothy seems to have blinders on, only looking ahead to her destination, and not stopping to enjoy the amazing place she found herself. Even in our dreams how many of us get to travel somewhere over the rainbow to such an amazing place? Although she meets great friends along the way who help her reach her destination, she does not seem to have much joy in her journey. 

 

Who wouldn't want to spend more time with the Lollipop Guild?

            We can be like that sometimes, can’t we? Have you ever been so focused on your destination that you don’t take time to enjoy the journey to get there? Our family has driven on vacations where we couldn’t wait to get to the vacation spot, and we never stopped along the road to see any historic spots or amazing views. 

            Our life is mostly a journey. We can set goals and have dreams to accomplish things, but the reality is we spend more time on the journey than we do at the destination. In a marathon athletes run for 26 miles. They only spend a few seconds actually crossing the finish line. Once they reach their destination many of them start thinking about their next race. Marathon runners, like most athletes, spend the majority of their time training, practicing and running and very little time crossing the finish line. Hopefully they enjoy the running!

           

            This is not to say setting goals is wrong, not at all. It is great to focus and train and accomplish dreams the Lord has given us. Anything worth accomplishing usually takes time and training. It’s just that most of our life is spent daily, and if we don’t have joy in the daily we are missing out on the life and lessons God has for us along the way. God cares about our growth during the journey as much as our accomplishment at the end.

            How can you enjoy your journey daily, instead of waiting for joy to come at the end?

For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking,

but of righteousness, peace and JOY in the Holy Spirit,  . . . Romans 14:17

 

 

Joyfully,