Road Trip
I’ve learned to savor anticipation. The good kind, of course. The bad kind of anticipation I’m learning to let go of, but the good kind… the moments of anticipating the excitement and joy and newness of life… I’m learning to live in those moments. Even if what I’m anticipating never comes to fruition.
Because, as they say, the joy is in the journey.
To say that everything in my world has to line up in perfect order for plans to materialize is a grand understatement. Like the road trip the Turner’s were going to make to visit me at Christmas… we needed perfect weather, perfect health, perfect timing. What we got was a country-wide blizzard, the flu for Matthew and a bad cold that stuck with Jessica for weeks. We didn’t get to meet in person and talk ourselves hoarse, but I got an amazing gift out of their not-to-be road trip.
I was the recipient of their love, kind hearts, amazing intentions and weeks of giddy anticipation waiting for their arrival. That means I had weeks of waking up smiling at the thought of people caring enough about me to go hours out of their way just to say hi. Not to mention that they were exposing themselves to the ear-piercing squeals of a dog whose head explodes when company walks through the door.
Now, I have TWO road trips planned for this spring. While I’m obviously not going anywhere, I have people planning to hit the road to see me. In April, my dear friend Alece is going to be knocking on my door. This lovely soul who I met online is a missionary in Africa… which meant I was pretty sure we’d never meet face to face. But not only is she now on a respite here in the States, she happens to have a wedding to go to … IN IOWA. Two of her interns in Africa are getting married in a town only a few hours from me, and while I’m totally letting them borrow her for the wedding, I am then claiming the rest of her Iowa experience.
That means her Iowa experience will be limited to my condo, but she doesn’t seem to mind. :)
In just the last week or so, ANOTHER Iowa road trip has been planned for May. Mandy [from Texas] and Amie [from Louisiana] are friends I’ve met through blogs and twitter… and while Mandy has many times mentioned road tripping it to see me, I never dreamed of holding her to it. But now they’re coming!!! How insane is that? She and Amie, and possibly a few others, are hopping in a car and driving 12 hours to spend a weekend here with me and the pup. Since the condo is not that exciting of a place, I’m thinking of renaming it something like “Gitzapalooza” just so it at least sounds more impressive when they tell their friends where they’re going. :)
I used to love a good road trip. Whether I was getting ridiculously lost with friends on our way back from Notre Dame, or heading to Lilith Fair with the girls for a day of amazing music, or simply heading across the state to watch a piano recital for my niece… it was always an adventure that produced memories, and resulted in hugs and laughter and breaks from the every day chaos. Now, I savor the planning instead of the journey, and I’m grateful to be the destination instead of the starting point. I’m no longer hopping in the car to make things happen. I’m sitting at home, overwhelmed by the notion that people want to hop in a car to see me. I’m savoring the emails and the twitter conversations as we plan and plot and anticipate what’s coming.
I’m enjoying the trip of growing and cementing relationships with people as we plan to meet… before they even hit the road. Because whether the road part happens or not, the trip has already begun. And I’m savoring every moment.
Have any good [S] topics for me to write about next week? Leave your suggestion in the comments and I’ll see what I can come up with!