The Power of Destination

A number of years ago our family woke to what promised to be a great day, and an even better vacation.  We had an easy flight from State College to Philly with just an hour lay-over there.  Our flight from Philly to San Diego was direct.  The morning went like clockwork; up with the alarm at 4:15 am, at the airport promptly at 5:00, on the commuter flight by 6:00 and taxing out exactly as scheduled.  Knowing we’d soon be in the air and on our way toward a sunny afternoon at Mission Beach, we settled back to snooze as the small aircraft underwent routine de-icing before our departure. However, the de-icing that morning quickly became anything but routine and our early morning catnap was spent on the runway at University Park Airport, not in the air. 

We had high hopes of being able to catch our connecting flight so upon arrival in Philadelphia we raced through concourse F, squeezed among the others on the tram headed for concourse A.  As the tram crept its way through the snow and pathways of departing air craft,  our hopes began to dwindle.  We bolted off the tram and right  through concourse A, huffing and puffing as we arrived at A-16 just moments after our plane had taxied away from the gate.  The day that began with high hopes took a detour and quickly melted into a day of frustration and waiting.  Waiting at gates, waiting on runways, waiting for flight crews, waiting for brakes to be fixed, waiting in long lines, waiting to hear about hotel and car rental reservations and finally, waiting for our luggage.  Luggage that never showed up in San Diego, at least not with us.  (All four suitcases "landed" on my sister’s front porch in the middle of the night while we were all suffering  from jet lag.)  The scheduled seven hour doorstep-to-doorstep trip became defined by frustration and waiting.  

We deem waiting as a necessary evil in life. God doesn't seem to. When circumstances require us to wait, everything whittles down to one thing; our destination.  The details that we view as hardships on the journey become secondary.  How quickly we forget about the plane we missed and focus our attention on the plane we hope to board.  Waiting helps us forget about the ice on the plane or the snow on the ground and presses us to focus on the sand at the beach or the sunshine in the sky.  Waiting changes our perspective and renews our commitment to reach our destination.

Destination is powerful. In all things.  The destination of a reconciled relationship.  The destination of a child’s heart.  The destination of character.  The destination of a personal dream.  Waiting clarifies the journey and helps us focus on the destination.  Waiting slows us down. Gets our attention on the better thing.  Waiting causes us to seek God's heart instead of His hand.  To trust Him more than we trust our own reasoning. 

Waiting seems like a necessary evil but waiting is actually, a necessary good. Rewind to the Jameson family spring break trip ... was it worth the wait on each airplane at each airport and in every terminal at every gate?  At the time we weren't convinced.  However, as the day wore on and our destination became our focus, it was.  And then as the 80 degree ocean air greeted us in San Diego, there was no doubt that it was well worth the inconvenience of every second of our wait. Destination, it's a powerful thing.

Snowstorms, Wool Scarves and A Lesson to Be Learned

The snowstorm came as expected. Six inches had made its way across the country and more was on its way, keeping our Andy overnight in Milwaukee after his flight home from Minnesota was canceled.  Andy was returning home after visiting his brother, Ben who attends Bethel University in Minneapolis. What Andy didn’t know at the time was that his college friends had come to surprise him at the airport when he returned so I found myself entertaining them for 24 hours until he arrived safely back in State College. The pleasure was all mine, believe me. While Andy was stranded in Milwaukee, his friends and I decided to head out to the dollar theatre instead of staying cooped up at home.  We slowly made our way to the movie and ended up arriving just beyond the previews, the opening credits and the first scene of the movie.  As we found our way to our seats in a nearly empty row where all six of us could shuffle in and quickly settle in, I begin to quietly unwrap myself from my snow attire. I tried to non-chalantly loop my scarf around my head and off my neck, keenly aware of those behind me who might already be annoyed over our ten- minutes-into-the–show grand entrance. The scarf made its way off of my neck and shoulders but in my attempt to pull it onto my lap, it snagged and caught on the bridge of my glasses! I struggled to set it free with my glasses still on my nose but to no avail.  I took my glasses off to fix the snag and pull the scarf and glasses apart.  Again, no go.  I finally put my glasses back on to see if I could endure the movie with it hanging from my spectacles while I inconspicuously worked it loose.  As I turned to Brie, Andy’s friend whom I had just met I might add, with the wool scarf obstructing my view and flapping around following every move of my head, she and I begin to laugh. Uncontrollably so.  The moment was indeed comical.  The dilemma indeed common ... at least for me.

Have you ever had a phrase from the Word of God stick to your heart or snag in your mind in such a way that no matter which way you turned it seemed to follow your every move or show up everywhere you looked as my scarf did on my glasses that night? The last phrase of I Corinthians 12:31 in the Amplified Bible has been “stuck in my heart” like that in recent weeks. 

“I will show you a still more excellent way [one that is better by far and the highest of them all--love].”  

The more excellent way “caught” in my heart in such a way that it wouldn’t let me escape its impact.  The more excellent way, His love in me. No matter what, no matter when, no matter who.  What trips me up is that I read the words, “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails ...” (I Corinthians 13:4-8) and I think, “I need to act that way!  I need to love like that!” And I do but the problem is I go out and muster all the patience and kindness and humility that I can and try with all my might to love others well and I crash and burn. I fall short.  I can’t keep it up.  And I feel like a failure. The infamous “love chapter” in I Corinthians 13 is about God’s love, not mine.  It’s His love for me that transforms my heart in me.


I miss God’s point when I focus on my love.  My love is more often impatient than it is forbearing.  It’s kind at times but not when I don’t get my way or someone annoys me time-after-time-after-time. I don’t tend to be envious.  Not until I run across someone who has the ease of lifestyle I long for or who has a wonderful relationship with a daughter I never had or who lives near extended family like I wish I did. My love is full of ME, I tend to be proud, thinking my way and my opinion is best and at times, right.  I boast about the things and people important to me.  I think far too highly of me and far too little of another.  I have dishonored others with a thought, a word or even a look. My love is oh-so-self-seeking. I get angry and sometimes keep a record of wrongs done to me, or to those I care about. Sometimes I delight in evil, when it feels like someone “had it coming to them” or when another's decision messes with my desire. I rejoice in the truth but not nearly enough. My love certainly doesn’t always protect, trust, hope or persevere. My love fails.  Often and immensely.  I crash and burn. I fall short.  I can’t keep up with loving well.  That’s God’s point; the more excellent way is His love in me.  Not my love in me.

May the more excellent way – His love in me – catch in my heart, snag on my mind and follow me wherever I turn, obstructing my view until it transforms my heart so that my words and my attitudes and my conduct reflect His love.