road trip

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A Road Trip May Reveal More Than Scenery

You can discover a lot from a road trip, especially if you keep the destination a secret.

a road trip may reveal more than scenery

The other day my wife, Lily, and I were looking for something to do during our current lockdown. 

We decided that we would head to Costco to get a few grocery items … not what I would normally think of when trying to come up with something to do. Shopping for groceries would be down near the bottom of my list of possible options. 

But the lockdown changes your perspective on things … besides, I thought I might be able to get a glimpse of some things I’m interested in. 

Normally I just browse and not buy as I stroll through Costco’s electronics section. But they did a great job stopping that; you couldn’t even window shop. They had skid loads of food items even blocking the view of some of the more eye-appealing inventory in the store.

With that option out of the way, we weren’t too long getting what we needed and headed out the door. 

The night was still young, the sun had not quite set, so I decided not to drive home. 

I decided to follow the sun. 

What do you do when you are locked down? We needed something different to do.

The sun was big – really big – deep orange and red filling the bottom third of the sky. 

So I just kept driving, driving towards the sun. I went by our turn and then I went by the next possible turn. 

Lily started questioning me. “Where are we going?” she asked. “I don’t know” I replied. 

We came to an intersection and she said, “Oh, turn down here”, but I kept going. She asked again where we were going and my reply was the same. 

She probably asked me a dozen times where we were going. 

By now the sun had set and there was only the glow of the sun on the horizon. We were quite a distance into the country by the time I turned around and started back down the road we had been driving on. 

Lily asked multiple times where we were going and gave me several commands to turn here or there. I could tell she didn’t like not knowing our destination. 

It was obvious that she was not satisfied with just going for a drive.

I pointed it out to her that she was all concerned about what was unimportant and was missing the enjoyment of the outing. 

That seemed to settle her down a bit. 

And what transpired during that little road trip was that we talked. We talked about several things we might not have talked about that night. 

We settled on a decision we were facing, that we probably would have put off in another setting – a setting like sitting in front of the TV watching some rehab addict rebuild the insides of an old home. 

That little road trip ended up being good and Lily never did find out where we were going. 

Here’s the thing: You can get in a rut with God where you don’t seem to be communicating very much. You aren’t saying much to Him and He doesn’t seem to be saying much to you. A change of venue can sometimes help. Start a conversation with the Lord in a different place, when you have time and no other distractions, when you are in an inviting environment to talk –  maybe a scenic spot, on a walk, or drive … maybe just a different place in your home. You may learn a lot from Him. 

That’s Life!

Paul

Question:  Where are you most likely to open up to someone? Leave your comments and questions below.

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I Was So Tired After My Recent Road Trip

There is something about being on the road that tires me out.

I’m not sure what it is … maybe it’s not sleeping in my own bed or maybe it’s keeping later hours, but being away from home just tires me out!

I don’t know how many times I’ve come home after a vacation and said, “Man, I need a vacation from my vacation!”

The whole idea of vacation is to relax and rest, but I’m always tired after my rest and relaxation time way.

It must be a bit of a mental thing, because when I lived in a dorm for four years I was able to feel rested, even though home was really halfway across the country.

Home is where you tell yourself it is, but once you settle on it, you get your full rest there; anything else kind of drains you a little.

This past week both my wife, Lily, and I were away from home – in separate directions. I was in the Toronto area for three days and Lily was in Ottawa for that same period of time.

I stayed one night in a hotel and the next night at our daughter’s place. Lily spent her nights at her mother’s. We were both in pretty familiar and friendly territory.

But when we both arrived home Saturday afternoon, we were wiped. If we hadn’t had things to do, both of us could have easily taken a big ol’ afternoon nap.

In fact, that might have made us more productive!

Our time away was spend with people we knew well. Both of us had a mixture of business and family time in our itineraries. But it seemed to drain us and not give us renewed energy.

I’ve talked to other people who share similar thoughts. The consensus is if you can make it back home after a full day away, it’s better being home than staying overnight somewhere else and getting back the next day.

You might think this feeling would be detrimental to hotels and resorts, but they seem to be able to sustain a good business. We like home, but obviously we also like to travel and experience other places.

I’ve been on vacations, missions trips, and business trips, some lasting as many as four weeks. But no matter where I’ve been, or how long I’ve been away, when I get back home it feels different.

When you get home, that’s when you really are at rest. Your whole body relaxes physically and mentally … that is unless you’ve been at home for a long period of time and find yourself a little stir-crazy. That’s when some time away from home will “reset” home for you.

It’s like a computer that’s been working for a while but then freezes. You can’t get it to do anything; the mouse won’t work and pressing the buttons does nothing.

All you have to do is hit reset and the computer comes back on, working like it always did.

A brief time away resets home so that coming back, walking in the door, flopping on your bed brings you back to the rest that comforts your body, soul and mind.

It’s home!

Here’s the thing: When you spend regular time with the Lord, that’s home. You know the place, the setup, the atmosphere; there is rest there. But sometimes that regular time gets disrupted, making you spiritually tired. You need to reset, get back to your time with God and find rest.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: When was the last time you reset your time with God? Leave your questions below.

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Going The Extra Mile

This last week my daughter was in town. Well, her car was in town. She was on a road trip with her mom.

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It was mother and daughter to Montreal for work and sightseeing. What I got out of the deal was the house to myself for a couple of days and Karlie’s car.

It wasn’t a bad trade off, her car for mine. Though her car is about six years older than ours, it had all the necessities needed to get around town.

However, there were a couple of things that were lacking or at least a little inconvenient, like no roof rack for my bike, so biking was out of the question. The trunk was pretty small and I could barely get my golf clubs and cart in it.

Then there was this squealing sound that announced itself when you turned on the air conditioning, and every time you stepped on the gas after stopping at a light.

Other than that, it was enjoyable to drive. … I guess I should say it was enjoyable until I had to do a highway trip.

I noticed the car would lose power for several seconds as I drove. It was strange and I didn’t know why. The worst thing about it was I knew Karlie was going to be driving back to Toronto later that day.

Something that I might wait a day or two to check out if it was my car, became an emergency because it was my daughter’s car.

I didn’t like the thought that she would be driving alone at night, for two and a half hours to get back home.

My mind started to produce scenarios like, “What if the car died on the way?” I sure didn’t want her being stranded on the highway in the middle of nowhere!

So I gave up a golf game I had arranged earlier in the day to make sure her car was working.

I called up my mechanic in the middle of the afternoon and pled my case that my daughter had to drive back home that night.

I knew he had daughters around the same age as Karlie, and I knew he was a sucker to do anything for them when they needed help. So I hoped those emotions would kick in when he heard my case.

Sure enough, he said, “How fast can you get it in?”

I answered, “I’m on my way now.”

You know if it had have been my car that was acting up and I had a golf game to go to, I would’ve dragged that car to the course and hoped I could get home later.

And if I had to take the car in first, I’d have been very upset about missing my game with the guys.

But for some reason, I felt I needed to take care of this issue. I didn’t mind missing something of mine in order to ensure my daughter could drive safely home.

Here’s the thing: I would do anything for my daughter or my son when they need me. And I don’t consider it a hardship. God has chosen to use us to do His work on earth. So what lengths do you go to to help Him in the work He is doing? Have that same attitude toward serving God as you would helping out your children or loved ones. Consider serving as a privilege and responsibility; be in it all the way.

That”s Life!

Paul

Question: What work is God doing that you could join Him in? Leave your comment below.

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Moose on the Loose!

Currently I’m on vacation some where near a sandy beach, on Lake Huron.  While I am away I am featuring a guest blog about once a week.  Today’s blog comes from Lily Silcock.  Along with being my wife, Lily works for SureWx as an executive assistant. She volunteers at Kingston Alliance Church and does all the editing for this blog.

Sometimes I shake my head at the situations I get myself in and the things I’ll do for my kids.

After a long work week a few weeks ago, I found myself exhausted and boarding a plane to Regina. Why Regina, you ask? Well, that’s where our daughter wanted me to meet her for our road trip back to Ontario … Not beautiful Calgary to be of assistance in helping her pack up her earthly possessions to move. Not in Edmonton – her first stop – where I could visit some dear friends, but Regina where there’s nothing and no one!!

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So I flew in to Regina, all eager to spend some quality time with Karlie as we drove back to Ontario. What I didn’t realize was that I’d almost need to ride on the roof for lack of room in her little Hyundai Accent! With bags at my feet and no room to recline the seats even an inch, we left. But that was ok; we were spending time together.

Our first day, we planned to drive from Regina to Dryden ON – a very do-able 940 km. What we hadn’t planned on was no vacancies at the hotels in Dryden at 7:30 pm. “No problem”, we said. We could go another 4 hours and easily get a place. After all, Thunder Bay’s a sizeable city.

I was tired but Karlie was happy to keep driving … until we passed the first “Moose on the loose” sign, followed almost on cue by a humongous moose standing on the shoulder of the road! And just as I was trying to assure her that that was probably a fluke, we passed another one!

Well, that ended any chance I had of catching a nap. I had to spend the next 3+ hours sitting bolt upright (not a problem since the seats weren’t reclining anyways), squinting and scanning the dark landscape, on the lookout for moose on the loose.

But I didn’t mind … I’m a mom and we do those things for our kids. Besides, I was looking forward to a nice, comfy hotel bed down the highway.

Little did I know that when we finally made it to our destination at 1 am, there would not be a single hotel bed available in that city either! Who knew that the national diving championships were being held so far up north this year?

Our only option at 1:30 am was the stuffed-to-the-gills tiny car we’d already spent the last 16 hours in. It’s a good thing my daughter and I are both vertically challenged!

After 4 hours of contorting in our seats, trying to get comfortable, laughing at the insanity of our predicament, and maybe getting a total of an hour’s shuteye, I laughingly announced, “I’m too old for this! Let’s hit the road.”

As exhausted and stiff as I was, I didn’t mind. It was a pleasure to be on a road trip with my daughter. I love her like crazy! Really, when it comes down to it, I’m a parent, and I’ll do just about anything for my kids … willingly.

It’s not surprising then that God calls Himself our Father. He willingly gave it all for us. We can count on Him, His help, His support, His company. He loves us like crazy!

Lily

Question: How have you gone the extra mile for your kids or loved ones? Leave your comment below.

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Happiness

Currently I’m on vacation some where near a sandy beach, on Lake Huron.  While I am away I am featuring a guest blog about once a week.  Today’s blog comes from Wendy Lehmann who is a work from home mom with two boys, ages 10 and 6. She has been married for 17 years and originally hales from Winnipeg.  Though being a mom is primarily her main “job title”, she runs a small side business sharing tea with friends.  She is presently working on starting a blog which should go live September 1st.  You can check Wendy’s blog out then at www.taketime4tea.com

To begin I am going to say that I am first and foremost a mother of two very active, and very boy-like boys.  There are other areas of my life that I enjoy, but none as much as I enjoy my kids.

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One of the best things about being a parent is seeing my kids being happy.  Kids can be happy to a level that we as adults rarely achieve.  I have wondered why that is and I think it is because they can be happy without thinking about being happy, they just are.

There are some rare occasions when you can see your kids reach a level of happiness that is above and beyond the run of the mill, get to stay up later than usual type of happy.  You know what I am talking about; the Christmas morning type of happy; the get to stay home from school type of happy; seeing grandma and grandpa type of happy.

We recently took a family vacation to visit friends and I got to see my kids reach that extra level of happy, and I loved it!  Our friends live in Wisconsin, so we decided to take a road trip.

Now, some of you may think that is crazy, driving for 17 hours with a 10 year old and a 6 year old to visit friends for 4 days, but we haven’t seen them in a couple of years, so hey, why not?!

On our way down we noticed a Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World store.  For those of you who have never seen one of these stores they are VERY impressive. Just imagine a store the size of Costco filled with anything you could ever imagine needing/wanting/buying-if-you-won-the-lottery for fishing, hunting or camping. There are 8 aisles of fishing lures, 200 reels to test out and more fishing rods than you could possibly count.

Now imagine being 10 and 6 year old boys who live and breathe fishing.  When we first walked through the front doors they just stood there in awe, and then it sunk in and they were off!

They did not know what to look at first. They went running up to look at the 25 ft floor to ceiling fish tank, then realized there was a 40 ft floor to ceiling tank with salt water fish at the other end of the store.

They went on the glass elevator at least 5 times so they could see the possum hanging in the tree. The boys took pictures of every taxidermy specimen from a moose to a family of foxes.

Now, anyone who knows me knows that this is not my “cup of tea” at all.  I am a vegetarian and cannot get excited about fishing, and definitely not hunting.  But, do you know what?  I was so happy to be in this store to be able to experience it with my kids.

Truthfully, I should say I was there with 3 kids because my husband was almost as excited as the boys. To be able to see that look in their eyes when they saw a wall full of fishing lures or tried out a cool new rod and reel was a really fun moment to be a part of.

As a parent we learn to read our kids, their moods, good and bad. We can tell when they reach that uber-happy level.  I’ll tell you what, I saw that level of happy that day.   What made me realize they were truly happy was when they could not stop thanking us for taking them to “that super awesome store”.

It is through their gratitude that their true happiness was revealed.  Both of them thanked us for days for making that stop on our trip, which made us want to do more of what makes them happy.

God, as our Heavenly Father, wants us to be happy; he also wants us to be thankful which is how he knows we are truly happy.

When thinking about the last time you were happy, truly happy, were you thankful to the One who is always thinking about our happiness?  Leave your comment below.