Road Trip

As painful as road trips with Dean sometimes are, today's little jaunt to visit relatives in Council Bluffs wasn't bad at all. We listened to Prairie Home Companion on the radio on the way there. His comments about my driving took second place to his commentary on the trailer trucks and models of vehicles we saw on the highway. And on the way home, we were entertained by bluegrass music, rather than by Dean's limited musical repertoire.

As a matter of fact, he was on such a roll that when he started to read a church bulletin out loud on the way home, which I knew would be from cover to cover, I asked him politely if he could just read it to himself. His reply was "probably not", as he proceeded to read it out loud, just under the volume of the bluegrass music. I tried to keep my focus on the music instead of his bulletin monologue. I guess I could allow this one departure from the unexpected.

While there, we visited pleasantly with my cousins, even though I was worried that our cross conversations would send his behavior spiraling downward any minute. He does not do distractions well. But we kept him amply supplied with cookies and a soda, so he was able to overlook the fact that there was another conversation going on in the room besides his own. About the time I felt he might start repeating his stories, it was time for us to go.

Reflecting on our day, I see that I'm on a road trip to heaven. Am I focused on the right things as I whiz by others on life's highway, or am I criticizing the driving of others? Am I satisfied with the talents others have, or am I trying to outshine them with my own performance? Is my conversation with others always respectful and loving, or am I interested in drawing attention to myself?

When I think about it, Dean's struggles are really no different than my own.

Sacrifice

Tonight we say good-bye to our nephew for just a week, as he travels back to his old stomping grounds, Florida, for a holiday visit. Leaving this 20-degree Nebraska weather for sunny 80-degree Florida has to have its perks, but I'm sure at the same time it will be hard for him to see loved ones again for such a short time. Sometimes our lives demand sacrifices though that are hard to understand.

The biggest sacrifice of all, that of God's dear Son, is definitely one we have to ponder when we are faced with emotionally-driven events that don't always make complete sense to us at the time. Jesus not only made a sacrifice by dying for us, but the fact that He left Heaven to do it, is something we will never come close to simulating in our life situations here on earth.

Yes, what He left and what He did reveal sacrifices that don't make sense to us at all. Unless you remember the force that drove those sacrifices. It was love. Love demands sacrifices, and sacrifice demands love.  The sacrifice will follow, but it must begin with love.