Once Upon A Time, I Jumped Into a Story

Once upon a time, (30 plus years ago), I made a big spontaneous decision. I am not known for relishing in impromptu, fly by the seat of my pants decisions. My sense of fulfillment usually arrives through a planned itinerary of my days, vacations included.

But taking advantage of opportunities to expand our own personal boundaries transform us. We gain recognition of ourselves and the world around us. We remain forever changed.

So on Thursday heading into a Memorial Day weekend, my roommate and I decided we wanted to do something. Neither of us had much money. We took out a map and scanned it over, deciding where we could go. Without hesitation, both our fingers landed on Florida. We lived in Chicago. Yes, that’s a 20 hour trip.

And that night, we took off, neither of us having driven there before. I had never been to Florida. The thought of seeing the ocean for the first time filled me with child like wonder.

We arrived after taking in the change of scenery, culture and dialect on the way down. Stepping into the warm salty water under a sunny 5:00pm sky felt glorious. Snorkeling exposed me to the beauty of God’s handiwork as I viewed the real life aquarium beneath me.

After two beautiful days of camping beachside and basking beneath the blue skies and palm trees, we headed home Sunday Night. Although we hit some hiccups along the way (alternator broke), we made it back by Tuesday morning. And I learned that there are so many stories to be written. We just have to be willing to jump into them even without knowing how they end.

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