Of Journeys and Stuff

Back when John and I were a young family with young kids, we would take trips to New Mexico (10 hour drive) that went something like this:

"John could I stop for--"

VROOOOM.

"But I really need to--"

VROOOOOM. VROOOM.

"Wait, there's a--"

VROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM.

John told me years later that he had to reframe how he viewed the trip. Instead of viewing it as a goal to get to his parent's house in New Mexico it was a trip to have lunch in Sweetwater. With a stop for Dilly Bars in Amarillo. And a pause to check out the Allsups at....well, you get the picture.

Like John, I am typically goal oriented. Plot a course. Set trajectory. Focus on the destination.

But the Crosspointe thing has given me a different framework. Sometimes the best journeys are when you don't exactly know the destination. Oh, you may have a rough idea of the terrain, but there isn't a map. Just a sense of calling and a general idea of how to move forward. It occurs to me that those journeys are best shared with friends.

Last night, we went to the "Estate Sale" of all of the furnishings from Crosspointe's old space. I expected to feel sad, but didn't. In fact, it really struck me how much of it was all just "stuff."

What I did feel was a sense of belonging. As we walked through the rooms of "stuff" and laughed about things with Vicki, Kim, Jim, Nancy C, Angie, Margaret, Charity, Mark, Kylie, David...as we helped Jody load her car...as the Oxygen crowd drifted over to Steve's and made pizza in his kitchen chopping things and putting the pizzas on the grill (weird, but good)...I felt part. This was church. Not a building or "stuff" but living life and sharing faith with others.