Summertime Travels

When I was a young girl, I remember the excitement building as we packed for our vacations.

We were the average family, not a lot of extra money to spend to take elaborate trips, but every trip to me was an adventure. Mother would pack a cooler of drinks and snacks for a roadside table lunch, while daddy would throw his tackle box and crab traps in the trunk and his fishing poles would be hanging out the window. Just a few clothes would be packed in a bag to leave room for Florida's oranges, souvenirs and sea shells coming back home. 

The old radio did not receive reception well as we traveled, so there were many songs to be sung by the family. One of my daddy's favorites was 'On the Jericho Road' because he knew the lead part pretty well. We always sang old hymns and then on to Christmas carols! We laughed and played games in the car and on occasion stopped at a roadside alligator farm to get a cool drink of Florida's fresh squeezed orange juice. Life was good!

The planning of a trip and the travel has always been a time of adventure and enjoyment for me, usually as much as final destination itself. Some like the excitement of putting up Christmas trees and preparing for the holidays, I like the adventure of travel. 

The unexpected and the unknown, followed by the lasting memories, is what life is all about!

Life itself is an adventure from one day until the next. We never know what tomorrow will bring, whether it will be a happy day or a sad, hard time in our lives. 

But you know, nothing happens in our lives that God doesn't already know about. Just like mother packing that cooler, because she knew her husband and girls would be hungry down the road, she prepared for us. Daddy, on the other hand, knew we would need something to do at night, so he packed crab baskets and fishing equipment to take us all to the pier to enjoy the cool evenings. 

Now I will tell you that on more than one occasion we ate a soggy sandwich because the ice melted and water got into the loaf of bread. There were many nights on the pier we did not catch anything and went home carrying empty crab baskets. But the joy of being with those who had prepared for us, even when it did not turn out perfect, is what I remember. We did not complain, we usually laughed and skipped and made the best out of a bad situation. 

Those times remind me of trials we live daily. God plans and prepares for us to have the best life we could have in Him. Then something in life happens, choices are made, things said, illnesses, death, things out of our control. We need to remember Who prepared the day for us, He is still there. He prepared for good, but evil is in this world. Evil seeps into our lives like water on soggy bread. We may have to live through the day, but we know He is still with us and loves us beyond measure. 

Now going back to the trip, I don't guess I will tell how I survived many trips sleeping in the back windshield of the car, while my sister slept in the seat! God surrounded us with His protection and just maybe it was my daddy's singing kept Him close! 

Blessings,
gs