journey

A journey is a person in itself; no two are alike. And all plans, safeguards, policing, and coercion are fruitless. We find that after years of struggle that we do not take a trip; a trip takes us.

John Steinbeck


Musings on ‘the journey’ – the good, the bad and the ugly……
You may have noticed that there was no post yesterday. I know that it must have impacted your entire day to not have my insightful words. :0)

At the time I usually post, I was otherwise engaged. I had the incredible privilege of being on vacation last week with my husband’s family on the island of St. John. Paradise. It was beautiful. It was restful. It was fun.
But, let me tell you, the traveling to and from rivaled mission trips I’ve been a part of. And so my story begins.

It starts out uneventful. A week ago Saturday we headed to BWI for our flight. Short lines, no waiting, on-time flight to Atlanta. Just enough time to catch our connection, a movie to help the time past and TWO Biscotti cookies for our meal! TWO!

We landed in St. Thomas (there is no airfield on St John – you must take a ferry) in the afternoon and began our trek to the island of St. John. Jeff’s family got there several hours before us so they had already left for our final destination – a rental home on the opposite side of the island. We were to catch a taxi and arrive, hopefully, in time for dinner.


The first sign that this trip might be an adventure; after getting off the ferry, we told the taxi master where we needed to go and he started asking other people if they knew where it was. Even though one of the taxi drivers still seemed confused, we were told to get in his taxi. This ‘taxi’ was a pickup truck with bench seats, facing each other, in the back. There was a canopy over the top and the back of the pick-up bed is open (this will be an important fact later in the story). Just as we were ready to pull away, an older man yelled out asking if he could get a ride. He climbed in and sat down right next to me. It was quickly evident that he had been drinking – a lot. Most of the people on the taxi ignored him. Jeff and I tried several times to interact with him but his responses were difficult to understand and the ones we could understand were usually inappropriate. I was so aware of the struggle inside me. I wanted to pretend he wasn’t there but I knew that wasn’t the right response. I wondered what his story was, how he had been hurt, what losses had he suffered, what his days must be like…
When he finally got to his stop, he stumbled off the back of the truck. I picked up the cigarettes that he had left on the seat and handed them to him. One of the other passengers said, “I bet you are glad he’s gone.” I said “Actually, I feel so sorry for him – what kind of life is that?” The heaviness stayed with me but soon our trip took a different turn, literally.

All of the other passengers had been delivered to their destinations. Jeff got out of the truck to look over the directions with the driver using the headlights because darkness had set in. The driver ‘thought’ he knew where we were going so our trip continued. The best way to describe it is that it was like being on Space Mountain at Disneyworld. It was pitch black, we were going up and down, turning left and right and had no idea where we’ve been, where we are, or where we are going. Add in some rough roads, an occasional branch smacking us and rain hitting our back. Good times. Then, it happened. Somehow we hit a bump while turning and going uphill. The perfect combination. In an unguarded moment I lost my balance and was pitched out of my seat into the bed of the truck. It may help to explain that when I say we were going uphill, I mean UPhill….you cannot imagine how steep these roads were. Gravity began to do what gravity does and I began to slide towards the opening in the back of the truck. Jeff tells me he grabbed my ankle to keep me from sliding out the back of the truck and missing the rest of my vacation. I had a serious case if the giggles so my laughing and Jeff’s yelling caused the driver to stop so I could get back into my seat. Welcome to paradise. Shortly after that, my sister-in-law, Cindy and her husband, Dean, passed our taxi as they came looking for us. Our rescue party had arrived! We got to the house and the vacation part of our trip began.

But – what I noticed as we made our way from our home in York, Pa to the beautiful rental home on St. John, is that I was appreciating the journey. Vacation didn’t begin once I got to the rental home…it began the minute we pulled out of our driveway in York. And in every part of that journey, God was present. I could see Him in the exquisite views of the islands and the ocean. I could see him in the eyes of a man who has been broken by his experiences in the world and can only manage the pain by numbing it with alcohol. I could see Him in the strong hand of my husband who made the difference between me spending a week with his family…or in a hospital…or even worse.

Point being, no matter what is happening or where you find yourself, He is there. Keep looking.

The adventure continues tomorrow.
Grace and peace,
Deb