{Detour}
9:20 PMSo our Sunday/Monday looked something like this.
7:30- 12:00 Church.
12:00-1:30 Drive to San Clemente to drop off cars at in-law's house.
1:30-3:15 Drive to LAX.
3:15-5:00 Check in, baggage drop off, security, walk to terminal
5:00pm-4:00am LAX to Amsterdam
4:00 to 4:30 Sprint from plane to connecting flight in an adjacent terminal
4:30 to 5:00 Board plane gasping for air and wondering why we didn't work out more before we left.
5:00- 7:30 Amsterdam to Bucharest.
7:30-8:00 Customs, baggage claim
8:00- 8:45 Drive to the team house
And this is where things get interesting. We are 200 yards from home. I can see it (or at least the large building directly in front of the home). Then there is this sign.
The Romanian sign for detour. Possibly the most dreaded street sign in the world. The detour takes us completely away from the house, then back past the house, then we have to squeeze through a road closed barrier because the detour didn't take into consideration the fact that people still live where the construction is being done.
We were tired, exhausted, terrible breath-ed, and just wanted to be done with traveling. The last thing we wanted was a detour.
How often do detours happen in life? It feels like all the time, and with each and every detour is a growing level of frustration and anxiety. My first thought was "Are you serious!?" Detours stress us out because they rob us of our most precious and limited commodity... time. We are so busy doing life that was don't have time for detours.
As I read through the scriptures I have become increasingly aware of the importance detours played in Jesus' ministry. He has a plan, He is on the way, and then there is: the woman at the well, the healing of Jairus' daughter, even the sermon on the mount was a temporary pause in his plans. In the midst of detours Jesus reveals that he is intimately connected and fulfilled by the Father.
When detours frustrate us it is a reminder that we are empty. It is a reminder that no matter how hard we try to plan and manage we can never really do enough. It is an indicator that we need God and we need Him to fill us up.
My friend and pastor Jason has always recited that "Loved people love people" When we are secure in the love of the father we are free to love people. Take the time to make sure you are filled with God's love. Spend time in the word, in prayer, in fellowship with other believers. When we are filled, things like detours lose the power to zap us and empty us. In fact, we welcome detours as opportunities to display to the world, that like Jesus, we are intimately connected to the father.
Love and Blessings,
-s
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