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God on Vacation?
By Robin Parfait
July 16, 2001
On my last full day of vacationing in California, I toured San Francisco with
my younger brother and brother-in-law to do last minute sightseeing and souvenir
shopping. My brother-in-law had business to take care of elsewhere, so after
agreeing on a meeting time and place, he left my brother Jareb and me to walk
around in Ghirardelli Square. It was a gorgeous day, a perfect one to be out and
about. After I'd found what I was looking for, we aimlessly walked around when I
remarked to Jareb that I wished I 'd been able to see Lombard Street.
Lombard Street is known as the curviest street in the world, making eight
turns in one block. We had tried to find it on Monday but were unsuccessful.
Since we had plenty of time before we were to meet our brother-in-law, we
decided to try to find it. Of course, we had no idea where it might be located;
at that time we didn't even know the name of the street. We were going by blind
faith, and, being the type of person who takes delight in the little things in
life, it would be a major deal for me to see this minor attraction. After all,
how often does one get to see the curviest street in the world? Besides, I had
one exposure left on my last roll of film, and I wanted to use it on a worthy
subject: the curviest street in the world. And so, we began our ascent into the
hills of San Francisco in search of this landmark.
After about the third or fourth hill up, I realized how badly I needed to
work out at a gym. Jareb would push me along, saying, "Come on, Robin. One
more hill! We'll find it; I know we will!" By then I was saying, "You
know, it's really not that big of a deal if we find it or not!" He made
climbing those hills look so easy. He was merely a sixteen-year-old lad who was
built to handle strenuous exercise and could probably bench-press me if
he wanted to. I, on the other hand, can barely lift a sack of potatoes without a
little muscle strain and becoming winded.
Every time we reached the top of a hill, we would begin to climb another. My
brother attacked every hill with gusto, stopping only when I insisted on it and
just for a minute at a time. He was so sympathetic. Finally, I told him that I
couldn't go anymore. Realizing the delicate condition I was in, he told me to
wait at the bottom of the hill while he climbed yet another hill in hopes that
this would be the one that led us to our treasure. I agreed to wait for him
while I caught my breath. As I stood there waiting, I thought to myself,
"Here I am on the streets of San Francisco, hundreds of miles away from
home, on vacation and just three months shy of my 24th birthday."
I wasn't sure what was going to do me in: lung failure, a heart attack,
fatigue or simply losing my footing and rolling down a hill into oncoming
traffic. I quickly dispelled those thoughts and once again found myself trekking
up Mount San Francisco, now in search of my brother. It was time to start
heading back, and I'd given up hope of finding Lombard Street. I'd had a great
vacation anyway, and I didn't want it to end with me flying home in a body bag.
I caught up with my brother who agreed that we should head back (he really
didn't have a choice). When we reached the bottom of the hill, Jareb suggested
that we go back the way that we came. I insisted that we stay on the street that
we were on. I was certain that it would lead us back to Ghirardelli Square, the
meeting place.
As we headed down the hill toward the next intersection, we noticed a group
of tourists snapping cameras at something on our side of the street. Lo and
behold! There was Lombard Street! Despite our fruitless efforts of searching for
it, we just happened to find it by chance.
My initial reaction was frustration, but I quickly changed my attitude,
deciding not to let something so trivial ruin a great vacation. I used the last
exposure in my camera to take a picture of the world's curviest street. We
walked up the awesome wonder (another hill) lined with tourists and beautiful
flowers (I guess I wasn't the only one who thought this sight was so
fascinating). Jareb and I finally made our way down to the square. Seeing
Lombard Street was a great end to a great vacation.
As I reminisced about my trip a week later, the lesson I needed to learn from
our expedition dawned on me. All too often in our walk with God we go on
exhausting pursuits for answers to the questions life throws at us. We search
high and low, forgetting to seek the One who has all the answers. Lack of prayer
and studying God's Word leaves us spiritually exhausted, dejected and ready to
give up, causing frustration and finding us no closer to our answer than when we
started. It is usually then when we realize that we need our heavenly Father's
help. We often forget that He is always willing to help us if we turn to Him.
He’ll leads us to our answer, but oftentimes, if we're not careful, we won’t
realize His answer because we're too worn out and frustrated from our own
efforts. I think of the old song that says: "Oh what peace we often
forfeit/ Oh what needless pain we bear/ All because we do not carry/ Everything
to God in prayer."
My little adventure reminded me that I should give all my cares and concerns
to my heavenly Father who cares too much for me to allow me to worry over things
I can't control. "Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for
you"(1 Peter 5:7). I survived my adventure, sore and exhausted, but I
was still able to walk off the airplane in Nashville.
I had come back home, though, to receive a renewed strength and trust in the
Lord. He will reveal the answers I need at the right time if I seek and wait on
Him.
ninetyandnine.com
ã 2001, Robin Parfait
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Robin Parfait lives in Nashville, Tennessee where she can walk the
streets without fear of expiring from any of the ailments listed in the above
article. She's doesn't know where or when her next vacation will be, but she is
anxiously awaiting that blessed event.
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