Road Trip. Those two words are so valuable to me. They encapsulate adventure, story, risk, and something wild. It doesn’t matter if I’ve traveled those roads hundreds of times. I know that each time I traverse them there is the chance for something new.
This summer I went on a six week road trip with the recruiting department. I went to four different Christian music festivals. Something I didn’t even know existed until after I had signed up. That’s the power of those two words to me. Someone around me says, “Road Trip.”” And I ask, “Can I go?”
Sometimes the answer is no, but when it’s yes…Oh boy, when the answer is yes, something inside of me comes alive. The closer the day gets the more alive it becomes.
So today that adventurer inside of me is jumping up and down and dancing all around.
Today I leave on a great adventure back to the frozen north. My friends: Dusty, Destiny, Alisha and I are leaving this evening for Minneapolis and St. Paul. We’re getting Alisha home for Christmas, and Dusty and I will get to see our beloved squad mate Maggie!
Then we turn to the neighbor to the East and head to Milwaukee to see our squad mates Amaris and Rachel. From there it’s back to sweet home Chicago for this girl. Dusty and Destiny will head back down South.
There’s something that happens on Road Trips, I’m not talking about the smell of coffee and fast food, I’m talking about the glow of a dashboard at 3 in the morning, the horizon in front of you and the knowledge that only God knows what lies beyond it.
I’m at a turning point in my own journey. My term at CGA has come to an end. I have been offered a job with Adventures, but it’ll still require fundraising (it’s half and half).
I’m terrified. This reminds me more of the road trip where I was in white out conditions on 80 East just trying to get back to Bloomington Indiana for school.
I assure you, the prayer that I said in my car then is pretty much the same as the prayers I’ve been saying lately.
“JESUS! Please get me through this. I can’t see what’s coming next, all I see are the break lights in front of me. I’m doing everything I can, but I…I…I need you. GOD? HOLY SPIRIT? BUELLER?! I know…I KNOW you’re bigger than this…jeepers this is big, not to you, but to me, this is big. I’m pretty little, you know that, you made me. Don’t let go okay?”
See the thing is, I made it to Bloomington. I’ll make it through this. Doesn’t mean it isn’t scary, it just requires a lot of faith. I know the one in front of me won’t lead me astray, and that it will be a grand adventure. Unsure, yes, but grand.
The trick is not let the adventurer inside who dances at the words “Road Trip” to become afraid. There can’t be conditions on the excitement. Adventure isn’t safe, it isn’t predictable, and the majority will scoff. “Isn’t there an easier way?” “Why don’t you just fly?”
But Adventure isn’t about easy. It’s about buying in, doing the best with the cards you’ve been delt. As my friend Joe says, “It’s making the best decision you can with the information you have.” Everything is a gamble, and has the potential to be an adventure.
For now, I’m starting an adventure that will lead me to celebrate Christmas with some of my family.
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