Life is a Highway....

besides it being my 3 yr olds favorite song (thanks, CARS) that has been my theme song for this past month! We have put a lot of miles on the car!

We just drove up and back from Washington, DC for the Every Nation North American Conference (the ministry we work for, NAC09 was AMAZING by the way) and back down to pick up our boys from my parents (can't thank them enough for watching them for a week!) and now over to Panama City for a few weeks to meet with our ministry partners.... and in a few more weeks back down to Tampa to meet with more! It's a whirl-wind Summer to put it lightly!

So much time on the road has got me thinking. Highway driving is SOOOOOOOOO much better than back roads, and more gas efficient. Our 14-16 hour drive up and back from DC to Tampa felt WAY faster than our 6 hr drive from Tampa to Panama City. Why? because we were on the interstate the whole way to and from DC, and were on back roads the whole way from Tampa to PC. (plus we had 2 kids w/ us on that leg)

So my contemplation is: How do you stay on the Highways of life? In other words, staying the course, and not getting detoured by small towns and stop lights. We listened to some sermons in the car on these trips and I heard a great one by Pastor Andy Stanley where he talks about our Direction determining our Destiny rather than our Intentions determining our destiny. Your intentions DO NOT determine your destination. You may have the best of intentions, but it is your direction that will determine your destination. For example: If you intend on having a great marriage, but are spending more hours at work with your secretary than on dates/at home with your wife what direction are you heading in?

We must be intentional on the direction we are going in if we want to arrive at that particular destination. If I want to go to Harvard Law school one day, I shouldn't just have really high hopes I make it, and be taking a scuba class and watching Legally Blonde.... I need to be actually taking the classes, studying, immersing myself in law, applying to the program to get there.

Where do your dreams want to take you? What has God spoken to you in your heart? What is a destination you look forward to? What are you doing to get there? Are you just having good intentions or are you heading in that direction?