Adventure

Finally after years of touting, my oldest daughter Jennifer finally accepted the challenge. I took her to pick up "dad's" repaired and newly inspected car, which was fairly close to home and from there she and the two babies (not such babies anymore ...ages 2 and 3) would take the car downtown, park it in the garage at "dad's" office and ride the bus back home. I offered to take them myself...but the adventure sounded like one she wanted to pursue...she says it was because if the kids....but I think really...she has been curious all these years of how the whole bus deal works. They were in need of a field trip...summer was coming to a close...and what else did they have going anyway? So I, with a great feeling of long awaited accomplishment, gladly handed over to her my bus card, and my bus schedule which had a map of the route on it and they were off for an adventure.

A first for mom but old hat for the kids....for they have ridden the bus several times with me and have loved it. The thing about adventures is: you have to be open for opportunities that just show up on your journey! They were already downtown so they walked to the Aquarium....saw the feeding of the white shark, rode the Ferris wheel... and made a late afternoon of it. The last bus left downtown at 6:30 and they were on it....and as we were trying to make dinner reservations with Molly (my youngest), heading the opposite way down the bus route ...there the bus was, stopped at the corner to let passengers disembark... we had a green light and couldn't stop to see them actually get off...but I called on my cell as they were unloading and they had made it full circle and it sounded like the adventure was quite successful. Filled my heart with joy....that she finally got to experience, at least once, what I had had so much fun doing over these years. Now she too knows the drill...and a fun drill it is at that!

We all get stuck in a rut at one time or another ....in the routine management of life. When the sparkle of life has faded, or the the joy has been overrun by monotony, and the livened up energy and motivation have settled in as a flat line....it is time for adventure. Adventure is the antidote for boredom. It doesn't have to be something expensive, or hotshotty or a far away excursion....adventure begins in our own backyards.....and it is ignited by a conscious shift in attitude.....a can do...or could do...or will do attitude.. When life seems to get a little boring or flat lined....we each have the ability to change that. To put a spring back into our step. It just takes some creativity, some conjured up motivation, and a true "desire" to get out of the muddled mire and find a quirky something new to pursue. It can just be taking a different route home, trying out a new grocery store, cooking a new meal, taking the initiate to be with friends you haven't seen, stopping in that little store that you see everyday and have been curious about, driving in the country...or even riding a bus. The options that God has given us for adventure are endless and come wrapped up is all sizes and shapes and are distributed at all times.

So may times we keep from doing things because they are new and we don't know the ropes..that is not an excuse that counts or has any merit....we are all able to learn new things...it just takes initiative and sometimes a little courage. God has a unlimited bag of resources that we can tap into....if only we ask for it. .When the fresh newness of each day is so covered up in doldrums, responsibilities and pulls and pushes from every direction, that we feel the weight is too heavy to lift.....we just have to seek His JOY! And embrace adventure....no matter how grand or small it may be.

God has given us this life of ours to enjoy....not just struggle through. We don't have to be rich to pursue His riches...or explore His adventures... they are available at every turn.....for each of us. We only have to be ready...ready to invest in a little off road scenery that God has clearly given to us as opportunity. I think adventure is just good for the soul....it helps us to close the book of scheduled calendar, if just for a little while..... and do a something unexpected...but it takes a little effort, a little creativity and a positive shift in attitude.

God is not boring...in any way...he always has something going on...that is refreshing, is captivating, is thought provoking, is soul stirring, etc. If we are feeling trapped in everyday doldrums, then we have to get up and get going....and look around and seek out opportunities that set us free.Free to explore, free to imagine, free to tap into some of the basic plain ole opportunities that are before us. Just a walk in the park....is something different for most of us. We just have to seek adventure....

Exert taken from a devotional I wrote on "adventure" on April 11, 2009:

God put us on this earth so that we can glorify him and enjoy him forever. If we are missing the joy...then we are missing the opportunities that are before us. We have not grabbed on and taken hold of the elements that make up the majesty of his creation. Adventure is in our own backyard....but we have to go out and find it. We don't have to be a live wire...eccentric to do things that are not within our normal bounds...we just have to be willing to look for chances to stir our settled waters and get some movement going in our attitude and in our gait.

Oh, to be like little children....they see wonder in the smallest of things, they believe without doubting, they find excitement in running down an open hall. They are gentle and kind to furry friends and helping to do anything makes them feel worthy. They smile with delight when they see something new and their curiosity is not satisfied until they see what is behind a wall or under a stone or around the corner. They know when it is time to rest and the rest peacefully for their hearts are full and unscathed by torments of responsibility. They are trusting little souls who go about loving people instead of judging them. I love being around my grandchildren because they remind me to be contented with the simple things and that it doesn't matter where we go or what we do...we can always figure out how to have fun.....if we are together. It is not so much where you are going on your journey but who is traveling beside you that counts. God will get us to our final destination....but it is what happens along the way, the people we meet, the life we share that gives us the experiences that ultimately grows us up and shapes us. Today...I challenge you to do a little something different...change things around!

I chose the following verse for today because of the last sentence....read those words carefully. God does not only provide...he RICHLY provides......BUT we must put our HOPE in God......and trust him with our lives, our circumstances, our children, our parents, our spouses.....our friends.....and seek that rich enjoyment and not allow the darkness to seep into our hearts and cloud what God has made for good....and JOY!
1 Timothy 6:17
Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.

May your today be filled with at least one something different..something that you have allowed God to nudge you to do...something that requires you to get out of that nearly carved box of styled living. Something that will help you to expand your horizons, and something that will turn that flat line into a surge of joy. I pray that for each of you today.

Dear Lord....please nudge us today...each of us according to what you know would light up our insides and make us sparkle.....only for a few moments. Amen

Praise God wherever you are and whatever situation He has allowed you to be in . . . His glory will shine through!
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