[pause] for the cause pace

The road trip from St. Louis to Denver takes its toll on a traveler.

It's 12-13 hours, minimum. It's one highway (I-70). The scenery mostly bores once west of Manhattan, KS. Also, the elevation above sea level slightly -- yet steadily -- ascends the entire drive; so while it appears flat as paper, it's nothing but incline. This adds to the drive time, and slowly induces altitude sickness symptoms if you're not hydrated.

This road trip I've done this a few times. Did a Colorado ski trip once with friends, and to arrive in Denver by 6PM for dinner, we hit the road at 6AM. While we pushed ourselves and made it, it felt miserable.

I preferred this trip when we chose to stop for the night. Hays, KS is an ideal location -- it's more than halfway, it's along the interstate.

This gets to my main thought for us all today: some journeys, some trips, some endeavors are better experienced when we take the built-in pause for the cause. Yeah, without a stop we'd arrive faster, but for what? Who's keeping track? By whose standard are we early, or late, or on time? 

We get there when we get there. 

In the meantime, let's stop to fill up on gas, take a leak, relax these brains of ours, fill up our water bottles, stretch our legs, gulp in some fresh air, grab a snack. This is a time when we're in one of the great, expansive in-betweens of life. We're on our way. We get there when we get there.

For every exit ramp, there's a nearby entrance ramp for us too.

the lies of butterflies

 "There are times when there is no illumination and no thrill, but just the daily round, the common task. Routine is God's way of saving us between our times of inspiration." -Oswald Chambers

I love to *start* road trips. Can't say I feel the same love about sitting in the car for the duration of a road trip.

At some point, I get antsy. I want out -- of the car.

My butt's gone numb. I've shuffled through my go-to playlists. I'm out of range to stream anything new. I've called a few friends to catch up, and I've picked over my snack supply. I look at the dashboard clock -- it's 10:02, and I got nothing to do. "If I keep checking the time, this trip'll feel like forever."

After what feels like waiting an agonizing amount of minutes, I dare look at the clock again.

Only 133 more miles until I change highways, and then another 198 miles until I arrive to my destination.

With any goal we pursue, the thrill of starting the journey does not (and will not) last. The newness wears off.

The start of a new semester in school settles into a predictable routine of class, homework, getting food, studying.

The start of a half-marathon brings so much fanfare! Cheers, crowds, inspiration. Not as much hoopla at mile 5, or mile 10. Just routine of maintaining a doable pace to make it to the end.

The start of hiking to a mountaintop feels so gallant! But after awhile, you're repeating a bland to-do list -- "watch out for loose rocks" -- "watch out for tree roots" -- "stay hydrated" "stay close together". You can't see the peak. But you also can't see where you started. You're just in it.

Starting to re-paint a room looks so audacious with that first swipe of new color! But before long, it's tediously pressing the roller to the wall, back and forth. Trying not to drip paint. Trying not to enjoy the fumes too much.

Monotony. Drudgery. Part of any goal.

When the butterflies of new inspiration and good vibes dissolve away, it doesn't automatically mean we've veered off-track. But sometimes we presume that. You see, so many of us excel at starting something new.

But it requires different skills to *stay* with something long, and to keep chipping away at a goal. For that, we gotta learn how to keep a routine, regardless of how we feel. We must grow more tolerant with some amount of boredom. It just takes time to adopt that pace. Routine is God's way of saving us between moments of inspiration.

So take a breath ... and let that breath out. And do that again.

Let's keep watching the road. The miles, and the minutes, meander by as we slowly climb toward our goals and dreams. Feel free to settle in; there's nowhere else we need to be.

"For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love." -2 Peter 1:5