As I’m staring out the window of the bus I’ve been in for half the day, I’ve been thinking about the road trips I used to take with my parents years ago.
Of course the trips I took with them were much more comfortable than the ones I’ve been on since being on the World Race. There were no rude Asian men who were transporting hundreds of random boxes and roosters under the bus I was in. I never had to pee in a field or in plastic bags, bottles, or sketchy squatty potties.
I was comfortable because I was with my parents and I was in the good ol USA. We traveled to every state on the east coast + a few more. One of my favorite memories was when we were crossing the border to Canada. The lady who was checking our passports asked my dad if we had any weapons in the truck. He replied, “Oh, just these two guns!” as he held up his arms and flexed. The woman DID NOT think that was funny! I thought I’d have to use part of my savings to bail my dad out of jail that day, but luckily he got away with a warning. My dad has gotten pulled over for speeding on boats, jet skis, and pretty much everything else he’s ever driven. But he almost ALWAYS gets a warning and no ticket. A couple years ago he was on his way home from church going 83mph with a 55mph speed limit. You know what he got? A WARNING! Whenever we are getting ready to leave to go on a road trip we always wonder what kind of warning my dad will get while we’re gone.
These are just a few fun memories we’ve had on all of our road trips, but some of the best times were the conversations we had in the truck on the way to where ever we were going.
As I continue to reminisce in my road trip memories with my dad, I’m realizing that I’m now on a much bigger road trip around the world, but this time I get to travel with my Heavenly Father. He and I have a different relationship than me and my dad do, but in so many ways especially recently, I’ve been able to gain a better understanding of how God views me through my dad.
Two months ago, in Honduras, we attended this thing called “The Awakening” with two other squads that were further along on the World Race. One squad was heading into their fifth month and the other squad was finishing their eleventh month of the Race and were about to fly back home to America. The biggest thing I took away from “The Awakening” was not the advice from the senior Racers or the lessons that were taught. I got something far more valuable.. I heard from God! One night we were all in a worship service. I sat in my seat while everyone else was singing. I was overthinking things and comparing myself to other people on my squad. I felt defeated and felt that I didn’t have much to offer people. I was letting my insecurities get the best of me in that moment. I was hearing so many people say things like, “God says I’m His treasure, royalty, beautiful, perfect in His eyes, etc,”. All that generic stuff you hear people say. If you know me you know that I’m stubborn and I wasn’t going to let what other people think God thinks about them dictate what I was going to believe. I wanted God to tell me himself how He sees me.
As I was sitting there I remembered when I was younger, if I was ever not feeling well or if I was unsure about myself in any way, my dad would always say, “YOU’RE FINE! YOU’RE A DEAN! YOU’RE ON THE DEAN TEAM!” That always made me feel better because it gave me a sense of belonging and made me feel strong and comforted. As I was remembering this I had a realization from God. I thought to myself, “I’m not only on the Dean team… I’m on God’s team. I’m HIS CHILD!”
I’ve heard this a thousand times that if you accept Jesus as your Savior you are a child of God, but this time it was different because I know this realization was from God. He finally told me what He thinks of me. He thinks of me as His child! Like a parent loves their children, He has the same love for me (and you), but only a million times more.
As this 11 month road trip across the world is almost half way over, I’ve learned that life with Him is a life full of adventure, growth, love, and anything but boring.
Like I said before, my favorite thing about the trips I took with my dad were the conversations and time spent together driving to wherever we were going. As I’ve spent over 90 hours in busses in the past 4 weeks I’ve had plenty of time to talk to God about anything and everything and that has been the best part of this whole trip. Our conversations and time spent together.
Wherever you are today, He wants to talk to you, too. Whether it be in your car, your house, at work, at a coffee shop, or wherever you may be. He loves you and wants to spend time with you because
You. Are. His. Child.
P.S. Dad, because of you being a great dad, I have been able to see God and connect to Him better. I think that’s the best compliment any dad could get.
But could you please start obeying the speed limit?
