Where You Go I Will Go

Last night  I followed my husband home on Alaska Highway 1 from Anchorage to Wasilla.  As I followed him, I thought about my Christmas gift to him almost 28 years earlier, our first year of marriage: an Atlas.  On the cover, written in cursive by a young, naive hand, I had quoted a scripture from Ruth, “Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay.  Your people will be my people and your God my God.” (Ruth 1:16)

Turns out that atlas became so worn from yellow highlighters, and from pages torn and taped back together again over the years that sadly, a few years ago, I replaced the atlas with a new one.

Some road trips are met with anticipation; others are met with obligation. 

Not too many months ago I followed my husband on the road less traveled from a small town in Michigan up the Alaska Highway on another new adventure.   If I am to be honest, I must admit that I was less than excited for this particular adventure.  In the end I had to choose to trust my husband, knowing he had my best in mind, as my heart broke saying goodbye to those I loved.

Following my husband day after day on the endless, bumpy road, I prayed often.  I prayed for God to change my heart.  I asked Him to help me to both trust and love my husband in ways I had not yet experienced.  At times I was angry, but mostly I was weary and sad.  I thought about people who have lived in the same place for their entire lives and fantasized about what that sort of life must feel like.  I wondered if I had the energy required to start over one more time.  Mostly, I thought about my three daughters and how the move would impact each one of them in their various seasons of life. 

I wrestled with the cry of my heart to live fully for God regardless the cost, juxtaposed with the reality of the selfishness of my heart screaming for a safe and secure life with little change. 

All of this I pondered last night as I followed my husband home.  I was able to think deeply and clearly as I drove without much thought given to the road,  knowing that my husband was in front of me leading the way. 

As I acknowledged my blind faith in following my husband, God revealed to me that this was the picture of how I was to trust Him with my every step.

He is always with us.  He leads the way into our futures, protects our backs from the past, and watches our every step, loving and caring for us in the here and now. 

Forever faithful; there is no circumstance or situation too big for Him to handle.  He only asks that we follow Him, trusting Him with every step of obedience.

I scurried around my house this morning to locate the newer Atlas I had given to my husband to replace the tattered old one.  On the cover, with the skilled hands of an adventurous woman; deeply loved, clothed in grace, and filled with joy, I began to write, "Where you go, I will go…”


Stay the Course...

Sheila