Thursday, April 14, 2011

Just Let Some Air In

I am wrapping up one of the busiest seasons of my adult life as I prepare for one of the best weeks of my adult life. In less than 8 hours I am flying to Honduras to be with my favorite during her spring break (and to take one of my own - win win!). I'm so excited to finally live out an adventure in the midst of some very routine misadventures.

As I was preparing to pack this week, her mother gave me her sleeping bag filled with other items...and then vacuum-sealed in a vacuum storage bag which took up my entire suitcase, and was so rigid that extra room couldn't be made. Then the ridiculous questions of doubt set in. "How am I going to fit everything now?" "How am I supposed to pay hundreds of dollars extra because of this stupid bag?" "What if I have to leave my guitar here?"

Then as I began to reflect on how miserable I was making myself over worrying about packing, I remembered the LORD. This is His adventure that He's writing me into. He's been in my midst throughout all the planning and saving that this trip has required of me. Why would He just mess things up because of packing one difficult item? So, I let go and gave the reins back to Him.

The next evening as I pooled in the "expertise" of a couple friends who've traveled to Cuba with far more luggage, I discovered that the vacuum bag had slowly begun to fill with air while I was gone for the day. Suddenly I was embarrassingly freaking out over nothing as the bag had become malleable again and we successfully zipped the suitcase shut.

We all have our vacuum bags: those elements of our lives that appear completely inflexible and unchangeable in our own effort. Whose strength are you living in today? Maybe we can all travel a bit further if we allow the maker of life to breathe into us and shape us.

No comments: