The Night Before Departure

Twas the night before departure and all through the house, not a creature is stirring, not even Natty whom we miss dearly and it's only been one day. Ok, so it doesn't rhyme but give me a break already.

Today was the big packing day, although I've been methodically packing and prepping and mapquesting and itinerary-making for weeks, you might even say months. Well, not "might" say, it has been months. Now tomorrow's the big day and I'm thinking to myself, "What in tarnation was I thinking!!!" This is huge. What if, what if, what if....that's all I'll allow myself to say because if I really say it, I might make it come true. Insert shudder here.

The kids are so excited and this will be the adventure of a lifetime and I'm pretty geeked myself, but frankly, I'm a bit freaked as well. I'm the geeked freak as it were. The kids and I prayed tonight and I just poured out my heart. Prayers for safety, prayers for protection, prayers for no flat tires, and no truck trouble, and no injuries, and no accidents...no, no, no. But an adventure can't be full of "no", so there were also prayers for bonding, and kindness, and patience, and forgiveness, and teamwork, and friendship, and worship of God's beauty and creation, and prayers for personal and spiritual growth. I don't know if the kids liked it, but I thought it was beautiful if I do say so myself.

The summer I was 22 years old I went with a group called Wandering Wheels on a bike trip across the entire U.S. of A. and I remember wondering then, "What in tarnation am I thinking?!" Even at 22 I had freaked myself out with my crazy idea of biking across the country. I think sometimes I have a tendency to bite off more than I can chew. Like I have this cool idea to take the kids camping and I can't just drive over to Lake Michigan, I gotta conquer the U.S. It's kind of like Thanksgiving when you fill your plate with excessive pounds of food and then wonder how you'll ever eat it all, but then like some gluttonous fool, you do....one bite at a time. Which, I hear, is also how one eats an elephant if one were so inclined. So, I'll gaze upon this wondrous adventure as one giant elephant standing in all her glory and I'll consume her little by little, not stressing over the entire body mind you, but just tackling her one bite at a time. And maybe, just maybe, if I concentrate on the one bite I won't freak out over the whole thing.

And now I must get to bed because that analogy was just gross.