More Journeys

So now I am in Pittsburgh, PA! For all my southern friends, it was about 75 degrees yesterday; don't worry, I hear it may get all the way up to 90 at some point.

If you've never ridden across the country with your family, everyone should do it at some point. Not only because you get to see some different scenery - such as the flatlands, the hills, the people who populate the gas stations off of highways - and not only because you get to experience new thrills - such as sitting inside what feels like a dryer to get to the top of the arch in St Louis (thanks for the image, Rory) - but you get to experience your family.

There is nothing like all day and night in close quarters with your family for a few days. There are great moments and there are low moments, and no running from either. Nancy and I were driving separate vehicles and at one point I had convinced her that all 3 kids needed to be together for a while, which conveniently left me by myself for a short time. That is, until Nancy called on the cell and said, "You are taking one of the kids and I don't care which one."

There were moments I hope to treasure, such as my five year old telling me how to drive and pass other cars, singing with my daughter (which shows her great love that she even enjoyed it), and talking about books with my ten year old. Holding hands with my wife under the arch and walking next to the Mississippi river.

Even the conflicts were teachable, at least in retrospect. We need to be able to live together and the knowledge that these people I am with are valuable and worth crossing barriers for gets you through. And we do need each other, especially for those moments when I am not acting as valuable as God sees me.