More About Me (part 2)
It’s so true: not all who wander are lost. I am found in God, but I roam like it’s nobody’s business. I’ve moved twenty-eight times in my forty-four years. I’ll do the math for you; I’ve never lived in the same place more than five years my entire life. My parents were “house-flippers” well before the quick-profit strategy became popular. After I left home, I was naturally an explorer and moved often on my own. Then God perfectly matched me with Mr. Holly, another natural explorer, and we “nomads” hit the open road. No matter where we have lived or explored, God has always provided us with pockets of people who love us and accept as a family. What a gift!
For me, my lot in life includes traveling, temporary homes, and being the perennial “new girl.” Thankfully, God created me as an extrovert, who fully enjoys meeting new people, trying new things, frequently getting lost and laughing about it. We plant ourselves in the community no matter how long we get to live there. Living in temporary or in timed housing as we relocate frequently for Mr. Holly’s job reminds us that we too are here temporarily. We tend to be attached to less stuff. Less stuff equals less stuff to move, pack and unpack yet again. Moving has taught me to be at peace in the chaos and the unknown. I’ve learned to be content with what I have and wherever I’m at. I store up treasures in my heart, which is much easier to transport with me from place to place. Even though my address here changes sometimes yearly, I will one day have a permanent home in heaven.
While I’m here, though, I follow my GPS like it’s God; I rely on it completely for direction. I have already followed it down a dead-end road—just to see if maybe the sign was wrong. It wasn’t. I’ve followed it almost into brick walls and just a smidge from the edge of a pond. Over the years, my GPS is getting better and more accurate, but sadly I am not.
On the same note, for the past three years, my New Year’s resolution was not to lose my car in the parking lot. I have embraced epic failure year after year. Over the summer, I faced my worst concrete jungle fail. I was at a huge shopping mall in Chicago, and I usually snap a picture of a landmark so I can easily find my car again, but not on this day. I was a little overconfident because I had been to this mall before, so “I had it.” Anyway, after shopping for a while, I exited out the same store I went in, but I couldn’t find my car. After walking up and down this gigantic parking lot in the heat of summer for forty-five minutes, I had to take a break. I went back inside to regroup and have an ice cream.
I couldn’t ask for help because my vehicle was a rental, and all I knew was that it was a black SUV. Knowing the year, make or model would have been too easy. I met a really nice lady who had a laugh with me about my “car,” and she went on to tell me that my store had two different levels because it had been built into a hill. “Try the second-floor entrance.” Sure enough, her suggestion worked. After I pressed the key-fob remote a few times, I found my ride. I still plan on making this my new year’s resolution for 2020 because one of these years it will happen!
Another favorite that never gets old is watching sunrises and sunsets. When traveling, I can’t believe that the majority of the people on the plane aren’t watching the sun rise or set out the airplane windows. I wonder what could possibly be more important or exciting at this altitude than that? Mr. Holly often facetimes me from different locations when he’s traveling, so I can see the sunset where he is. I feel like I’m really getting away with something when he is in a different time zone, and I get to see the sunset twice in one day. Wow! What fun!
So, in short, I travel, I plant, I get lost, I lose my car, I uproot, and I do it all over again—laughing and praising God…until my last breath.
