driving topless...

a·ban·don

verb

verb: abandon; 3rd person present: abandons; past tense: abandoned; past participle: abandoned; gerund or present participle: abandoning

1. give up completely (a course of action, a practice, or a way of thinking).

2. cease to support or look after (someone); desert.

3. allow oneself to indulge in (a desire or impulse).

noun

noun: abandon

1. complete lack of inhibition or restraint.

Have you ever experienced a true sense of abandon?

on the road with Hubs...

I just spent the past 5 days on the road on what I’ve been fondly referring to as the Great Lakes tour. At first, I was a little sad that my family had preceded me… that they had had far more vacation time than me. For a brief moment I even bemoaned the fact that really, ‘the tour’ was just my traveling to pick them up so we wouldn’t have to pay for their return flights. But as the date quickly approached for me to leave, I began to get excited about seeing family & friends, even if it was for a brief time. I committed myself to live in the moment, enjoy the experience & to set off on the drive with a sense of adventure.

The plan was to head out on Thursday morning, drive thru Minnesota & Wisconsin to my first stop on Lake Michigan, to camp with my best high school girlfriend. The second day I would travel thru the Upper Peninsula over the Mackinaw bridge, past Lake Huron to the Lower Peninsula to pick up Hubs, who was visiting with a couple of our oldest friends. The third day we would head back out on the road, going south into Ohio to visit with my parents & sister & my niece & nephew & to pick up our daughter who had been staying with them on the shores of Lake Erie. Monday we would get up bright & early & would make the longest leg of our trip from Ohio thru Indiana, Illinois, back up into Wisconsin & finally back into Minnesota & home. 

Five days. Three lakes. Six states. 1,777 miles… more than 35 hours on the road. 

Are you exhausted at the very thought of it? 

The first three days of the trip, I drove my rents PT Cruiser convertible, that they had swapped with me earlier in the month. Each day, I started out with the top down. No mind that the mornings were chilly & required me not only to wear a sweater but to turn the heat on high to keep my flip-flopped clad feet from freezing. To be honest, I might have had it on too high as it literally melted the nail polish I had on my toes. Only once did I have to pull over & put the top up due to a sudden rainstorm. 

Oh my goodness people let me tell you… there is just something about having the sun shining down on you, your hair blowing around in the wind, praise music blaring & you’re singing said music off-key at the top of your lungs. 

My mind cleared. My heart filled.  My spirit lifted. It. Was. Glorious. So glorious that a couple of times I found myself throwing my arms up into the air, tears streaming down my face & shouting “Whooooohoooooo! YAY Jesus!”  Yeah I know I probably looked like a freak show tearing down the road that way but guess what? I don’t care. For real. 

I want to live my whole stinkin’ life like this. Oh I know I have had moments of surrender. After all, I do live in a tiny duplex & just took a new job lower paying job remember. But I also know I have a real long way to go to live a life of true abandon. 

I mean, imagine if I gave up all the things that hold me back from experiencing everything of God. Imagine if I embraced everything He wants for me. Even the messy hair, off-key singing, nail polish melting things. Imagine if I released all my doubts & fears & truly allowed myself to enjoy every moment of sunshine I am given. Imagine what it would look like to lose myself in sacrificial worship with my head & my heart & my hands & my feet & my mouth.  I doubt anyone would recognize me.

I am purposing to work toward living a life of abandon. No offense but I don’t care what people think or what people say. What I do care about is what God thinks & what He wants for me. Whatever that looks like. 

In this moment, I’m pretty sure it starts with my arms in the air. Whooooohooooooo! YAY Jesus!  

“Your life is a journey you must travel with a deep consciousness of God. It cost God plenty to get you out of that dead-end, empty-headed life you grew up in. He paid with Christ’s sacred blood, you know. He died like an unblemished, sacrificial lamb. And this was no afterthought. Even though it has only lately—at the end of the ages—become public knowledge, God always knew he was going to do this for you. It’s because of this sacrificed Messiah, whom God then raised from the dead and glorified, that you trust God, that you know you have a future in God.”

 -1 Peter 1:17-21 (the Message)

PS Oh yeah... I almost forgot, if you need a theme song for your own drive to live life with abandon you might wanna go with this one. Might not compel you to surf or skydive or zipline or dive off a cliff but it's sure to get your arms in the air :)