As I gain experience in this big, beautiful world, I come to appreciate more and more the timing of things or words that God puts smack dab in the middle of my path. A couple of Sundays ago, I got to hear a sermon about Naomi and Ruth, which is undoubtedly one of my favorite stories in the whole big book and has one of the most iconic verses.
“Where you go I’ll go. Where you stay, I’ll stay,” says Ruth to Naomi.
The back story in a highly paraphrased version is that Naomi travels to a foreign land to better her situation only to be faced with pain and tragedy. She makes the hard decision to travel back to her home (aka her promise land). And in a surprising twist, her daughter-in-law opts to join her rather than stay in the foreign land.
One of the points of this story was to highlight the promise land in each of our lives. Just in time for Southwest to send me a reminder email that my Nebraska trip was just around the corner…
The pastor talked about that certain feeling that we get as we prepare for such a trip back to our promise land. The mixed bag sort of feelings that have everything from joy and triumph to loss and pain. It feels just as much part of our souls as the life we live. There is an immeasurable certainty of being at home in our promised lands.
What hit me as I was driving out of the valley down the gravel roads past the cattle and the windmills was that this little corner of the world has become my new promise land. My heart rejoices when I return, I am peace through my stay, and I can leave refreshed and renewed.
As I contemplated this, I was considering how I know this. And I think it’s the little things like knowing which drawer has the hand towels or the coozies or the essential oils. Like when I’m just as likely to be making the family meal in their kitchen as she is. Like when her babies will snuggle me (almost) as much as they snuggle their mommy. Like when I can go the whole week without wearing a drop of makeup or caring about what I am wearing. (Trust me: the cows don’t care!) Like when I can spend the day painting a play house with my nephew and niece knowing that we can’t wait to play there together.
I returned to my foreign land last night. There are great promises here and dreams to be lived and had. And a piece of my heart knows that I can always go back to my promise land. My heart is glad and my soul is grateful.
Take time to travel back to your promise land. Take time to slow down and be at peace with yourself and the world. You owe it to yourself.
What A Great Ideus