The Incredible Journey was one of my most favorite books and movies when I was a kid. I mean, what’s not to love? There’s dogs. There’s a cat. There’s an amazing story of loss, adventure, teamwork, and (warning - here’s a spoiler if you haven’t read it or seen it!!) eventually a tear-filled joyful reunion at the end filled with love. When I think about my life, and the path that God has set me on, I can’t help but think that I am in the middle part of my own Incredible Journey. There’s dogs. No cats. But so far we’ve got an amazing story of loss, adventure, and teamwork. And because of the faith that I am firmly planted in, I know that I am eventually going to have a tear-filled joyful reunion at the end.
So, let’s think for a second about the story. You can’t have a story without characters. And my Incredible Journey is filled with characters. My mom and dad, who have been such an amazing support in our years of struggle. My sister and her family, who have loved us and cared for us and dropped everything to make sure we were ok. My extended family and friends, who are too numerous to name individually, but who have also met us at various points on this journey and helped us along the way.
This new year has been about a lot of reflection for me. Something that I have thought a lot about has been this Incredible Journey. Many of you know I am a Christian. And I don’t believe that things happen by accident. Every day, every minute of our lives, is planned out for us. The good and the bad all have lessons to teach us. They are all woven into our life’s tapestry in order to help us stand back at one point and see the beautiful big picture that is being created. And when you think about the events of your life, all the way back to your birth, those things happened for a purpose. Those things all happened to make you into the person you are today. One little difference, one little change, and you could be an entirely different person, in a different place, with different circumstances and different people. The characters in my Incredible Journey would not be the same. And when I think about the path that I was led down to get here, to this moment right now, I am overwhelmed with the sense that Father had everything laid out for me. And has the rest all planned out too.
So, when I think about the twists and turns in my Incredible Journey, it takes me back to fifteen years ago when I walked though the doors of Jackson Park Elementary as their brand new Speech-Language Pathologist. I thought I knew exactly what I was doing and was going to change the world. My very first IEP meeting, I sat at a table and told a family I was cutting their son’s IEP minutes. The resource room teacher at the table looked at me and declared, “Uh, no you’re not.” Then the mom threatened something about lawyers and I quickly hand wrote the minutes back to what they were and left the meeting as soon as I could at the end. Man, I was intimidated by and terrified of that teacher. And continued to be for quite some time. Who would have thought that fifteen years later, she would be one of the starring characters in my Incredible Journey?
Melody started off as someone I was so afraid of, so intimidated by, that I didn’t quite know what to do with her. I’d attend meetings and stare at her in awe as she spoke with parents and children. I knew that she was wise and smart and so very good at what she did. It wasn’t long before she and I started eating lunch together at work and talking about students. We would share ideas and she would teach me things that worked for her with kids. Soon we were laughing and sharing secrets, talking about our families and spending hours together either in person or on the phone. Eventually she graduated to honorary Nana to my babies and worked her way deep into our hearts. And then my life unraveled, and she was one of the many characters that stepped forward to help the girls and me through. Melody and I have been through some terrifying, amazing, weird times together. There hasn’t been much that we haven’t experienced together.
But one day, and I’m not sure I can even pinpoint the exact day or month or even year, things shifted in our relationship. God intervened on our behalf, and took us from strangers to coworkers to acquaintances to friends, to bonded friends, to family...but in the last few years our bond has gone through one more metamorphosis and we were blessed to become prayer partners. We started adding Christ into the center of our friendship and amazing things started happening. Rather than just talking and sharing, we began praying and reading the Bible together. And my Incredible Journey became OUR Incredible Journey. We became partners in faith and we have watched the most amazing things happen. Healing and grace, forgiveness and peace, praying and talking and learning, pressing deeper in our Father’s arms, working on people’s hearts and faith, bringing others to learn about Jesus. It has been such an Incredible Journey that we often find ourselves shaking our heads wondering how it all happened, how we were lucky enough for our paths to cross and find each other and grow and walk together. We know that God placed us with each other, gifted us to each other. And the things we have seen and heard and witnessed and experienced have been simply amazing.
Matthew 18:20 says, “For where two or three are gathered in my name, there I am also.” This has been most certainly true as Melody and I have bonded and grown in the love of Christ. He has been so very present always, but we have been so lucky to experience His love and grace and peace for us in the context of prayer partners. He has been actively present with us, and sends us reminders throughout our time together that He is here and that He loves us. And we feel so blessed to share that with each other, but to also have the opportunity to pass this on to others!
So, I encourage you to find your person! Find the one that God has set aside just for you! The person who will drop everything to pray with you and for you. The person who thinks through things with a God-focused brain and walks you through this with prayer and scripture. The person who isn’t afraid to be firm with you when you are straying from His path and His plan. The person who loves you and guides you back to the cross when you feel lost. The person who looks into your eyes or hears your voice and knows when you are having a moment of weakness and bolsters you up with prayer and praise.
I have been so blessed. I am so thankful for all of the characters that have been a part of my Incredible Journey. My family and friends. My girls. My husband. My coworkers. All of the people on my list of friendships. All of the people who found their way into our lives for whatever reason. And I am also so thankful for Melody, and the earthly partnership that she and I share. For I know the Incredible Journey that we are on now is only part of the path that will lead to the tear-filled joyful reunion at the end where we are reunited with the loved ones we have lost, and where we get to spend the rest of eternity with our Lord and Savior. What a blessing! What amazing grace! What an Incredible Journey!
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