Journeys with promise...

 Journeys with promise...

Yesterday, a friend and I set out on a long awaited journey...it really started over a year ago, but of course as we all know the world changed ...many cancellations later, we are finally hitting the road...with sanitizer, masks, and road maps...instead of boarding passes...one of my daughters and one grandson are accompanying us for a couple of days for a “field trip “ to the Shoshone ice caves and crater of the moon ...

As we struck out across the miles of barren landscape, (some pretty valleys as well)... i was struck by how many millions of people have left  home and kin behind in looking for those promises at the end of the journey...

Adam and Eve leaving the beauty of the Garden

Noah stepping into that huge handcrafted boat...

Abraham leaving Ur...

Jacob finding his son, Joseph, with the promise of food...

Moses leaving Egypt’s plenty to find the land of “Milk and honey” across a desert..

Jonahs journey to Nineveh...

Jews returning from exile...

Joseph journeying to Bethlehem, Egypt, Nazareth...

Wisemen looking for a king...

Paul’s many journeys, sharing the gospel...

Pilgrims looking for freedom...

Various conquers looking for new land , gold, spices...

Various people groups looking for less oppression, “free” land...

Judy Garland looking for a way home...

And on and on..

Most of us have embarked on various journeys with promise, whether good promises or not...marriage, housing, parenthood, careers, illnesses, teen years, old age...to name a few...

A beginning preparation, the journey, the conclusion...maybe leading to more journeys or not...

Sometimes  the journeys lead us through barren land, through lush times and we anticipate the end, forgetting to enjoy and learn from the journey...like Jesus talking and journeying with the men on the road to Emmaus. (What they heard and learned must have been amazing...)

I want to learn from my journeys...not just anticipating the promise...making the whole experience worthwhile...what I am learning here on earth making the promise of heaven all that much greater...

Thank YOU for the journeys....help me learn from other’s and my own...

The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you. “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you. ”

Genesis 12:1-3

Numbers 33

It was the Lord our God himself who brought us and our parents up out of Egypt, from that land of slavery, and performed those great signs before our eyes. He protected us on our entire journey and among all the nations through which we traveled.

Joshua 24:17 

Jonah began by going a day’s journey into the city, proclaiming, “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overthrown.”

Jonah 3:4 

Perhaps I will stay with you for a while, or even spend the winter, so that you can help me on my journey, wherever I go.

1 Corinthians 16:6