Chasing Hot Air Balloons

I’m going to start this blog by painting a story for you from my childhood:

I grew up in the beautiful state of Washington. I lived in a suburb highlighted with big green trees and mountains that I could see in the distance. Summers were my absolute favorite. I was always in awe of how the sunsets made everything look like it was sprinkled with gold. Some nights during the summer, after my family and I would finish dinner, my dad would take me on my favorite adventure; hot air balloon chasing. We were lucky enough to live in a place that was close to a landing field for the hot air balloons. After he brought it up, I would scarf down the rest of my dinner and quickly put my dishes away, anxious to go on our big adventure. We would step outside and before departing on the journey, we would scan the golden horizon and look the little hot air balloons dotting the golden sky and then we would pick one to chase. My dad would then start driving and he would ask me where to go. Excitedly, I would point in the direction that I thought we should go and I would tell him each street to turn on as I tried to find the quickest way for us to reach the balloon. Some of the streets I chose got us closer to the balloon, some got us further away, and some lead to dead ends, but my dad patiently kept driving. Somehow we always would make it to the field where we found all the incredibly beautiful and massive hot air balloons landing. As a little girl was the most magical place to be and I would walk around completely awestruck of where we ended up.

It wasn’t until years later that I realized that my dad always knew where the landing field was, yet he always let me help choose the path to get there. If we got lost he would get us back on the right path and then I would continue choosing the roads to go on. He could have very easily just taken us the direct route to the field and saved us at least half the time, but he would always let me “help” find a way there. The way I chose wasn’t as quick or smooth, and we probably had to do some u-turns, but that was part of our adventure. This memory often brings me to tears because of how patient he was and how loved I felt.

I had a revelation not too long ago that this memory is symbolic to how God journeys with each of us. He know’s our plan and where we will end up, yet He often lets us choose the roads we take to get there. He is a part of each step of the way; even when we take a wrong turn or hit dead ends. The lessons we learn along the way are often just as important or even more important as the destination because it grows our character and who we are in Christ. We have a Father who so clearly loves us and is so patient with us throughout the journey we are on. What’s so cool is that He doesn’t love us any less when we take a wrong turn! He just keeps driving and eventually we find the road that leads us to where we are supposed to end up at. So, what is it that you and the Lord are adventuring and chasing together?