Finding Joy in Travels

Many people have asked me how Dave and I do all this traveling and I usually reply, "God always gives resources to do what you have to do!"

Over the years, as I've begun traveling more with Dave, I've learned to literally take hold of the Lord's promise from Philippians: "And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus." And He does!

The second thing I do in the midst of our travels is to find joy along way...and sometimes that comes in the form of laughter as it did last night!

We were traveling from California to Arizona by car yesterday, because it was cheaper than flying and honestly more fun for us. Because we're still jet lagging, we got sleepy early so decided to stay somewhere overnight along the way.

I got online in the car (what an invention the smart phone is for times like this!) and looked to see what was available up ahead, landing on a "Red Roof Inn" since we've stayed in those before.

But when we pulled into the parking lot, we both just started laughing. It was like something out of a movie...and not an A+ movie, if you know what I mean! 😂

The first room that the receptionist put us in smelled HORRIBLE, with a stained bedspread and dirty carpet. And that was not to mention that in the room next door there was a dog barking...and barking and barking and barking. You can imagine that we didn't stay in that room.

When we walked into the next room it smelled better and was quiet. But it still left a bit to be desired. However, we were both so tired that we figured we could manage a night's sleep there. And we did! We slept through the night, getting nearly 10 hours of sleep. When we looked at the room in the daylight we laughed again. It was about as "tired" of a room as you can possible imagine!

But a little oatmeal and coffee at Starbucks next door perked us up.

Some warmth and sunshine on this February morning was another joy in traveling, and I loved sitting here for a few hours while both Dave and I got some work done before heading out again.

Another one of our joys of traveling is trying to find local establishments to eat in. It doesn't always work, and we've definitely learned where to eat and where not to! But as was the case today, it was a great little BBQ place that had some good, nourishing food along the way.

And then, we always seem to have some item we're looking for in the States that lets us live a little bit of "normal" life amidst our meetings and work.

You can probably guess what problem we're trying to solve back home in Czech by this purchase! 😂

I've come to love traveling with Dave, even if it means living out of a suitcase and having motel adventures. Because mostly what I love is being on the Lord's agenda and doing his work of loving people and being on his assignments anywhere we are.