My Last-Minute Road Trip
by Hannah Keeley
It was about 9:45am, Saturday morning. I was spending it just like I do every other Saturday morning. I was in my jammies, making stacks of chocolate chip pancakes for the family. I had a very evident bedhead going, and remnants of Friday’s mascara creating smudges under my eyes. Typical Saturday morning. I was dipping out batter into circles on the griddle, thinking about my niece who was getting married that day. My daughters and a few friends had gone to the wedding, but I had to stay home because of obligations and also lack of transportation. They were preparing for a wedding three hours away. I was making pancakes in my jammies. Typical.
Then the phone rang….
It was my sister, Regina, telling me that my other sister, Christina, had just flown into the Richmond airport and she could give me a ride to the airport.
“I have two extra beds in my room,” she said. “It’s destiny. You have to come!”
I paused, mid batter dipping-out. “Let me check with Blair, okay?” I said. I ran to Blair in the other room, the ladle still in my hand, dripping batter on the floor of the living room.
“Christina’s in town. She can take me to the wedding and I can be back first thing in the morning,” I said. “Do you think you can take over our Sunday School class?”
“Sure!” he responded, without any hesitation. “Go and have fun!”
“Okay,” I told Regina. “Give me about one hour.”
Blair took over the pancakes, and in record time, I had thrown stuff in a suitcase, brushed out my bedhead, and put on some decent clothes. She pulled down the driveway just as I was packing my toothbrush in a plastic sandwich bag and tossing it in my bag. Hugs were given, food was stuffed in our mouths, and we jumped in the car and hit the road.
It turned out to be a wonderful weekend. I saw my niece and her sweet groom celebrate their love for each other. I saw people gathered from all walks of life to show their support of their decision. I danced for hours at the reception. My sisters and I laughed until about 2:45 in the morning until sheer exhaustion finally did us in.
All because I decided to leave the typical and just…go.
Out of this experience, I learned some powerful lessons about life opportunities.
Opportunities for adventure are never convenient. They always throw us out of our comfort zone. They make us get out of our jammies and leave the pancake batter. They make us go where we’re not used to going and do things we’re not used to doing. But I’ve found that when life gets too comfortable, we’re stopped really living.
Opportunities will always be present. Although sometimes we give up on our growth, God never does. He always provides opportunities if we are just willing to look up from what we’re doing and see what He’s offering. But, it will almost never come the way we hope or ask them to come. God will always show up and whisper something to us that will make us initially say, “No, really? Really? Are you sure?” Seize those opportunities that make you question. It forces you to get out of your box, and allows you to free God from the box you have crammed Him into.
Opportunities give us a story. We tend to forget that our lives are really a story in the making. What is a story without plot points and hills and valleys? We’re not here to live the safe and expected. When we choose that story, our books become smaller and smaller until they are little pamphlets with the words, “she lived, she died,” written on them. Put some meat in your books! Look for chances to provide story and adventure. Opportunities are the cliff hangers that make you want to take that next step to find out what would happen.
Your life story is waiting just around the next bend. Are you ready to live it?
Hannah Keeley was once in overwhelmed mom living in a cluttered house, deep in debt, out of shape, and barely hanging on. But one day, after finding herself sobbing uncontrollably into a pile of clean laundry, she realized God has bigger and better plans for her (just like He does for each one of His children). Beginning that day, she began making changes in her life that took her from overwhelmed to overjoyed. Today, she’s helping moms do the same. Hannah, her husband, Blair, and their seven children live in Richmond, Virginia, and are having the time of their lives!
Check out Hannah’s Website Here!
