A Moses Experience

Yesterday brought a new adventure. We got the truck back from the dealership much earlier than expected. Very shortly after checking out of the hotel and getting back in the truck we had a load notification. We were heading to Valdosta, GA! We were getting closer to home and getting some great miles. This was great news for both Nate and I. Maybe, just maybe, we would get close enough to our homes with a little extra time for much needed visits. BUT……everything would have to work out just perfectly in order for this to happen. We still had to get an empty trailer, receive our actual dispatch, drive to California to pick the load up, and drive to the final destination. Unfortunately, things never seem to work out perfectly, and yesterday was no exception.

The beginning of the end started with a very slow response from the planners. It is their job to route us to a place where we can pick up an empty trailer. Unfortunately they took their sweet time. By the time they located an empty trailer time was running short. After connecting to a trailer we then had to wait for the official dispatch of the trailer. We waited for about a half hour before deciding to decline the load, since there was no way to be on time for the pick-up. This meant waiting again for another load.

After being up most of the day we received a load notification with acceptable miles. This one required us to get rid of the empty trailer we had searched for before heading to Calexico, CA, which was about 350 miles away. Fortunately this load was pre-loaded on a trailer and already waiting for us.

US Routes were the only way to “get there from here”. And, since the majority of Nevada seems to be desert, the drive was less than enjoyable. Nate hopped into the bunk for a nap in order to be ready to drive, leaving me to endure the “exciting” scenery all alone. This gave my mind plenty of time to ponder this vast wilderness. I began to think of how Moses must have felt, wandering for 40 years, not sure when the end of the journey would finally arrive. I kept thinking about a child in the back seat repeating that well-known chant of “are we there yet” every 5 minutes. At least I had an idea of how many miles I was supposed to go as well as an odometer to keep track of how far we had already been.

As I continued down these never-ending, winding roads I began to think about my life. How much time had I spent worrying about the destination and completely missed the journey? How many milestones in my children’s lives had I missed, just because I was busy trying to drive the car of life? How many more accomplishments will I fail to recognize because I am too busy doing ________________?

A dear Brother in Christ once spoke of how we live our “dash”. He was referring to the dash between the dates of birth and death on a headstone. Our life’s accomplishments will basically amount to that tiny punctuation when the journey is over. Some of us will have a short dash and others will have a very long one. Some dashes will be in bold type and impossible to miss or forget. Others will be barely noticeable and will very quickly fade with time.

It is not a very profound observation to say that life is short. Nor is it eye opening to say we only have one life to live (physically speaking). But when was the last time you actually took notice of the mark you are leaving as you live yours? One of my favorite quotes is “I teach, I touch eternity”. But you don’t have to be a teacher to touch eternity. Make contact with another life and you will have touched eternity. Don’t waste your dash; completely missing out on all the wonderful things life has to offer just because the scenery doesn’t exactly excite you.