Get your suitcase packed… Jesus would like to take you somewhere!

I had the most amazing mother-in-law!

Peg Albertson started as a teacher in a one-room school in Northern Wisconsin, and retired as a librarian many decades later. In addition she raised an absolutely marvelous daughter who I was smart enough to marry.

In retirement she honed a skill she had practiced for most of the years of her life … she was an intercessor. She prayed every day for the nations and their leaders, for her pastors, all elected officials from the President of the United States to the local city officials where she lived.

And I know she invested a lot of prayer for me!

But one additional fact about Peg was that her suitcase was always packed.

She relished trips of any kind, from over the road journeys with Marriott, her husband… to an overnight trip with Joanie and I to a nearby city to see our sons in musical performances. You had only to jingle a set of keys in her hearing and she was ready to go!

In this age of lackadaisical indifference, where so many simply wait and hope that nothing comes along that will affect their tranquility,  by comparison, Peg was ready for any trip – any new challenge.

Oh, how I long to respond to the things Jesus holds out for me in the same way she did. If Jesus pulls up in front of my house and says, “Want to go to Toledo? I have something I’d like you to see or do there,” I’d love to be able to grab my suitcase and jump in.

I’d want my bag  packed with enough faith to get me moving and keep me moving. I’d want a good stash of obedience in my bag, and a clean set of joy and optimism available for every day of my journey.

I’d love to be able to pull out of my bag enough smiles for all I meet along the journey. I would want enough peace to keep my heart settled in unsettling situations that I didn’t understand.

Jesus is working in our world in unbelievable ways, but He’s always looking for travelers who will go where the action is. Travel to where the lonely wait. Meet the disheartened and weary with words of encouragement.

Why not consciously begin packing a suitcase in case Jesus would like to take you on a trip with Him.

“The Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and for evermore.”

 Psalm 121:8 NIV

Just an update. My book (Fresh Heart For a New Day – Volume 2) is being typeset and will be ready for publishing very soon. Stay tuned for further information! These 365 daily devotions will bless you throughout the next year.