I didn’t know it would make any difference when I wrote it on the board that day. When I was a new teacher, I wrote (and still write) a quote on the board every school day for my high school students.
I got the idea from a college professor who did the same. But he used bits of alternative songs–unknown to me as a thirty-something student. I asked that he might, at some point, perhaps, provide a quote by someone I would recognize. Marx, maybe?
At the next class, I sensed him watching me for a reaction. I checked the board. The quote he used that day was this one: “Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana.” G. Marx~
Not the Marx I expected, but a name I recognized.
In my own classroom a few years later, the quote I wrote wasn’t from Groucho Marx. It was by Cervantes.
“The road is better than the inn.”
I’d had it in my notebook for some time. When that day came, I felt compelled to use it. The teacher across the hall peeked in to see what I’d written. She did that sometimes. I thought nothing of it.
Years later, she told me that the Cervantes quote that day was part of the confirmation she was seeking about whether she should quit her job and take a position as a teacher overseas in a country hostile to Christian faith.
The next year, I was still writing quotes on the board. She was in Northern Africa. My co-worker understood the Great Commission.
Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. Matthew 28: 19-20a (ESV)~
What I also didn’t realize that day was that within a few years, my husband and I would also travel abroad to a country not so friendly to Christianity.
We don’t know where the road will turn–or what it holds beyond what we see in front of us.
Some missionaries travel to exotic lands and stay there all their lives. Some go for days or weeks and come back. Some speak to a neighbor–or a stranger–right in their own home towns.
The inn lies ahead of us. Until we arrive there, we are always on the road. We will turn the right way when we listen to God’s leading–when we heed the voice of direction.
Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” John 20:21 (ESV)
Love this! The destination takes second place, most of the time, to the journey.
More often than we might think, Ed. Thanks and God bless!
Awesome post!
Thanks, Julie. God bless!
A great reminder that while we never know exactly where the road will take us or what is around the next bend, God always does. So, while we often find ourselves walking into adventures we never planned it is all part of God’s plan to build his kingdom.
And that’s the most beautiful part–that we can play a role in building the kingdom in ways we hadn’t imagined. Thanks, Anne, and God bless!
God uses our life travels to prepare us for our final destination!
Exactly, Ava. Thanks and God bless!
Powerful! I’ve been living in the inn instead of the road to completing my novel. Thanks for the nudge; I’ll get offline now and get to work!
Good thinking, Candice. Thanks and God bless!
The Holy Spirit nudges us, and it is such a beautiful thing to see the fruits of what happens when we obey and then see what God has done and is doing through us, in us, and all around us. Thank you for the reminder, Nancy. God bless you.
Thank you, Jessica. His work is beautiful, indeed. God bless!
Such a lovely story. Not only does it show a mission heart for your friend but teaches that even the little things we do might change someone’s life. That is part of the beauty of serving God. Thanks Nancy.
It was the furthest thing from my mind that day, Yvonne. Thanks and God bless!
Great quote! I will have to keep that one in mind. It is all in the journey.
It is, indeed, S.A. Thanks and God bless!
It’s funny how scary obeying God can seem at first. But then when we do obey, it’s truly the most peaceful, exciting feeling! I pray I will always choose to obey His voice of direction!
I hope you do too, Emily, so you don’t miss any of the adventures that God has planned for you. Thanks and God bless!
Listen for God’s leading. Amen
Yes, Melissa. That’s key. Thanks and God bless!
I am praying for the leading of the Holy Spirit for my life always, but as we are personally at a unique juncture in my family, my heart/mind/ears are especially attuned to His promptings. Thank you for this post. May our hearts and hands be at the ready!
May God guide you gently and clearly. God bless and thanks, Melissa!