Come On Ride the Train

When I first heard I was riding the train, I protested. 

I took a day off work and while I was gone my colleagues decided that it would be fun to take a 20-minute ride on the commuter train and have breakfast a few stops down the tracks from our office.

I don’t think train rides are fun. 

I’m not much of a public transit rider unless I’m in a city where I’m forced to use it. I’ve taken the subway in New York and ridden the MARTA in Atlanta. I even rode the train when I was in Italy last summer. 

But Orlando is new to the commuter train game. 

The train debuted last year with much fanfare. A renovated station from the olden days of train travel sits on my company's campus so I've driven by it for years and always wondered what it looked like inside.

I guess now I’d get my chance to not only see the historic 1920s station but to ride the train for the breakfast whistle-stop tour I was being invited {coerced?} to take.

It would seem as if riding the train would be a good fit for me since driving new places makes me anxious and parking difficulties stress me out.

But maybe I just don’t like giving up control of my journey.  

{You too?}

I try to remember that when God invites us to come with him and join him on this journey of life, it can turn out to be the ride of our lives.

Even though I'm not sure of the direction we’re traveling or where we’ll stop or how long we’ll be staying. 

And I don’t know exactly when we’ll gather steam to get moving again or if we’ll unexpectedly screech to a halt. 

But all I have to do is get on board, settle into my seat, and enjoy the ride. 

Except that's not so easy because there's still a lot of activity required in those words: board, settle, enjoy.

I'm learning it's less about looking for what God’s going to do for me, and more about traveling with the one who goes with me on this passage, through every season, no matter what it brings.

Sometimes the most brave thing we can do is follow and yield, instead of insisting that we make our own way.

Even if it looks as if we don't know what we're doing or worse, that we look foolish when we tell our friends that we're at a temporary stop and we're waiting on God.

Maybe you feel as if your life's journey is stalled in the middle of the tracks.

Or maybe your life is traveling at such a breakneck speed, you're afraid you’ll miss the next stop.

Maybe your life feels more like a train wreck than a joy ride.

Or maybe it seems as if you’ve missed your train since it’s long ago left the station without you and you're still standing there holding your suitcase because you aren't sure what else to do.

But take heart, because we have God's word that he is always with us on this journey of life.

The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.” - Deut. 31:8

When I rode the train last summer in Milan, I couldn't help but notice the giant sewing needle with three colorful strands of thread standing in the center of their Metro system symbolizing the train lines {and the fashion industry} that connect the city.

But I didn't realize the second part of the sculpture was a knot located a little further away. It wasn't even in the picture.

Isn't that an image of our journey through life? 

Just as a needle and thread can't create clothing without the knot that secures all the stitches yet to come, our lives need God who holds all the threads of our lives, creating our beautiful stories. 

So as I'm on the train with my colleagues, I spot the big green coffee shop sign just ahead as I get off to have breakfast.

We stay a while, eat breakfast sandwiches and drink coffee, then head back to the station to catch the next train back to the office. 

I think I'm on the right track.

Or I can at least ride the rails with this train of thought. 

I'm having coffee with my friends at Holley Gerth's place at Coffee for your Heart. Join me there for more posts from my blogger friends!