Several years ago I attended a conference where the speaker read an article someone had written entitled, “Welcome to Holland”. It was about planning to go somewhere and ending up somewhere else – somewhere you never intended to go. It was a parody on life itself.
I’ve taken the idea and changed it just a tad bit…
Life is a journey, filled with a bunch of little side roads and forks in the road that we have the options of taking or not. One fork says ‘Marriage this way’ while the other says, ‘Stay single’. Another might say, ‘Large family’ versus ‘No kids’. Still another, ‘Take the promotion’ or ‘Stay put’. Life is like planning a vacation to somewhere like… France. You buy the tourist books, language books, and more. You begin to plan. Lists of all the famous attractions – the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, a Moulin Rouge Show and more. You even check out the local library’s issue of “How to Learn French in Ten Days”.
You are beside yourself with excitement. You’ve spent nearly every waking moment thinking about this trip. Hours, days, weeks, months and the day has come. Your bags are packed with everything that will make this trip a trip to remember. A once in a lifetime experience.
Early the next morning, you shower and dress, pick up your bags with all the airline-approved size toiletries, and head to the airport. You meander through security checkpoints, not setting off any alarms and finally, it’s time to board. You get as comfortable as possible for the long ride. Finally, an announcement comes over the speaker and the flight attendant tells you that the seatbelt restrictions have been removed and you may now deplane and “Oh, and welcome to Medford!”
Wait.
What did she just say?
Everyone’s almost off and you tag behind to verify, though you,re sure she’s made a mistake.
The attendant is standing at the door and you ask, “Medford?”
“Yes, enjoy your stay.”
“What do you mean, Medford? I was going to France. I paid to see France. I’ve spent my whole life, preparing for France.”
“I’m sorry,” she says, “but we’re in Medford.”
What you need to remember at this point is, you haven’t landed in a war-torn country, a famine stricken nation, or a city in the aftermath of an earthquake or flood . There is no famine. There is no disease. There are no hurricanes or tornadoes. You’re just in a different place.
Now, you’ll need new guide books, which are conveniently located at the information center next to a quaint little country store. And fortunately, the people speak your native tongue, English, so that’s one advantage. You’re also going to meet a whole bunch of new people that you wouldn’t have met if you had gone to France.
Medford isn’t France, it’s just a different place you’ve found yourself in. Just like life. It’s certainly a different marriage than you envisioned, a different college, definitely a different kind of retirement. Your kids are even different than you imagined – they aren’t perfect and they may have gone a different path than you had hoped. Moving out on your own isn’t as glamorous as you once dreamed. The first boyfriend wasn’t exactly Prince Charming.
This life you’re living here in Medford is slower paced than that trip you had planned to France and it is certainly less flashy. But, after you’ve been there a while, you catch your breath, you look around and you begin to notice that Medford has lakes and mountains. It has a big, beautiful rose garden in the south of town. Medford has friendly people and lots of parks. Medford is suitable for growing many varieties of plants not conducive to colder climates you’ve been to. Medford even has a really good pizza place.
But, it seems as if everyone you know is busy coming to and from their ‘France’ – that place that you had always dreamed of being and maybe even spending the rest of your life. They’re bragging about the wonderful life they’re living there or at least the wonderful time they’re having as they visit. And for the rest of your life you will say, “Yes, that’s where I was supposed to go. That’s what I had planned.”
The thing is – life just doesn’t go the way we plan. Dreams often get lost in the living of our lives and the pain of losing those dreams we dreamed is extremely significant. However, if the rest of your life is spent bemoaning the fact that you landed in Medford instead of Paris and you spend the rest of your life bemoaning the fact that you didn’t sign up for all of the pain and sorrow along the way – than you may never be free to enjoy the wonderful things about Medford. Or shall we say – your life.
Welcome to your Medford. You’re right where God wants you to be.
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Very true. We might have ideas or plans of how life should go, but ultimately we need to trust God and know that He is with us wherever He takes us.
That was neat. I resonate so very much with all that you expressed. It has been a long, struggling journey, to come to a place where I appreciate and value my “Medford”.
Juanita – Thanks so much for the comment – Thank goodness we can get there, eventually, with God’s help!