Author: LeBakerMusic

We had such an amazing vacation this year. You know what it’s like when your screaming “I Wanna Stay om Vacation.” We are done adulting here.

It started with a family visit in Indianapolis where our niece ran James into a bookcase and he gave her a bloody nose when he accidentally flipped the hammock. They are now “Battle Buddies” and Brooklyn adores her “Unka James”

Then a milestone year High School Reunion which was so uplifting and fun! I saw friends I had not seen since High School. We listened to each other’s stories, sang karaoke, danced, chatted, celebrated that we are still around – alive and kicking at least for now.

Climbing Up the Mountain

Then James and I were off headed to NW Michigan. My sister and her boys joined us for the first 2 days. We climbed this sand dune in Sleeping Bear Sand Dunes National Park, located on Lake Michigan not far from Traverse City. Well this dune was a mega-dune that was 1,024 feet high and about an 80-85% grade it was no joke to say the least. My sister and my youngest nephew Levi who is only 3 years old climbed this with James and I. When we were about halfway up, climbing on our hands and feet, sand blowing in our face, exfoliating some parts of our exposed skin to sheer rawness, this little guy, my nephew says “Mom, next time pick a smaller mountain.” He had the right idea and we laughed out loud.

On this vacation we learned about shipwrecks on Lake Superior, saw lighthouses, rode bikes around Mackinaw Island, went to a mystery spot where gravity has a mind of it’s own, slid down a zip line, saw waterfalls, beautiful giant Great Lakes, visited historic military sites, saw family, friends and made new friends as I busted a note for Jesus in Two Harbors, MN.

Then we toured two beautiful mansions and tooled around Minneapolis and St Paul taking in the beautiful MN state capitol along with the Cathedral of St Paul and poking our head briefly into the overwhelming Mall of America. This year I wanna stay on vacation.

Spam and YES I Wanna Stay om Vacation

On the leg home we visited the Spam museum and in Eldon, Iowa, we stumbled upon the home that inspired the “American Gothic” Painting. We had to do our own reenactment. Back off we go over the Des Moines river through St. Louis, MO over the Missouri, Mississippi, Ohio, and Tennessee rivers. Then it was over, 2 fun-filled, jam packed, whirlwind weeks gone and we were back home, back to responsibilities, back to life and reality – but I wanna stay on vacation.

Can We Find a Smaller Mountain – I Wanna Stay om Vacation

After I got home from this amazing trip reality set in and I need to find a job, again. There is always some need, more finances, unexpected expenses, illness to conquer, another friend battling cancer, a husband deployed, a child that is dumped in a relationship….can I just go back on vacation? I found myself thinking just like my nephew and saying can I pick a smaller mountain.

I heard this sermon on the radio which gave me a renewed perspective. Life throws so much at us but what does God really want from us? Three things, obedience, faith and patience. Just like climbing that giant sand dune, if I want to get back to the top I got to climb! No one else is going to do it for me. I had to have the faith in myself that I could physically climb to the top. I had to have the patience to scale the giant dune for over 1 hour to get to the top. When I got to the top the exhilaration of Victory was incredible.

Obedience, Faith and Patience

So If I apply this to myself right now, Obedience…be obedient to God that should be pretty obvious but what areas of my life am I still hanging on to that I am not surrendering to His will but…I am trying to fix it my way? Is that really being obedient? What about my obedience beyond the obvious? Can I swallow my pride and walk away from what I want versus what I need? Can I be a servant instead of a leader?

Faith…I know all about faith. That has been a strong area for me. Ah-ha…but faith that believes in God and faith that surrenders to God are two different things. My faith has to expand beyond my basic belief that yes, God is God to – yes, God has my life in His control and I don’t have to keep trying to control every detail.

Patience… for me this is the hardest one. Both of my children would agree with me there. Like Paul, I ask why do I do the things I don’t want to do and why do I neglect to do the things I need to do? Why do some people seem to be where I want to be and why am I not there? But maybe the better question is what did they give up that I am not willing to give up? If their grass is greener is it because they take better care of their lawn?

Not My Home

While I wanna stay on vacation. I have hope when I remember this place is not my home. All God really wants is for me to let Him show me what He can do and I have to be patient in the process. So God grant me patience but hurry up!

I will trust in Him still to grant me the patience to get me up the mountain and have me come out on top. Just like on that sand dune, if I have to eat the dust, have the sand rub my toes raw and claw my way up the journey on my hands and knees, I will get to the top and stand in victory and when I do I will give Him the glory!

repost from old blog

Earlier in July 2012, I was driving from Nashville up to Michigan for concerts and family time and I literally found myself driving through the jet stream.

The Experience of Driving Through the Jet Stream

You know how you watch the weather forecast on the news or the Weather Channel and you can see it in a curvy line streaking from West to East across the United States. I was somewhere between Louisville, KY and Indianapolis, IN and it was 106 degrees in the shade. Up ahead in the distance I could see this ribbon of wind flowing from my left to right and since I was heading north I figured out very quickly it must be the jet stream. It was dusty and looked very much like sand storms I remember from living in the Southwest. I have had the adventure of flying through the Jet stream in an airplane and that was to say at best “unnerving.”

White Knuckle Mode

Fully aware that I needed to go into “white knuckle mode” I braced for the wind to slam into my van as I entered the unknown and the formidable jet stream. I was out of it as quickly as I entered it and all I could thick was “wow what a rush!” I stopped at a rest area and the temperature was 20 degrees cooler. The Jet Stream is normally in the atmosphere so in a weird way I felt like God shared a little secret with me. Jet streams are boundaries that separate adjacent air masses with significant differences in temperature. So they keep hot air in the south and cool air in the north among other things.

When I really started thinking about this it made me think about the boundaries God has around us that we don’t even see. It also made me think of the turbulence we go through to get from one area of life, growth and even trouble into an area of comfort. Now I love hot weather but anything over 100 is even uncomfortable for me. To go through that sand filled, turbulent flow of air made me think of the troubles we face here when things we can’t control are dropped in our lap.

Driving Through the Jet Stream – Getting Comfortable