Not All Who Wander…

As long as we are following God, we are never lost.

J.R.R. Tolkien once wrote, “Not all those who wander are lost.” I have always loved that quote, not because I’m a physical wanderer. I’m quite the opposite. I’ve lived in the same house for ten years now and the one before that for seven. I’ve been a Georgia Girl my entire life.

But, there are different ways to wander, aren’t there? I’ve never felt a deep call to do one specific thing my whole life, like be a doctor, artist, or a singer. I like to sing and I sang in church growing up. I didn’t think about singing again for close to twenty years and last Christmas, I found myself singing in the church choir in a Christmas Cantata. Who would have thought?

Yesterday, my daughter and I went through her sheet music and sang songs together that we plan on singing together on our mission trip in a few weeks. When she pulled out, “Victory and Jesus,” “I’ll Fly Away,” and “I Saw the Light,” for us to work on and proclaimed those as some of her favorites, I had to fight back tears. Those were always some of mine too, growing up, but she has rarely heard them in today’s church.

When we sang them together, I could almost see the Holy Spirit dancing along. The new church services with all of their new and improved music, really have nothing on the old stuff.

Our church won’t have a Vacation Bible School this year because we don’t have the space, but we are likely moving to a permanent home in the fall. This year is the first year I haven’t helped run a VBS in nine years. Next year, our church will probably have a need for someone to coordinate a VBS. I am more than willing.

I suppose when we allow ourselves to be flexible and wander a bit, we are much more available to be used by God. If I were only willing to focus on singing, I would have totally missed out on all my work on various Vacation Bible Schools. If I were only willing to work with young children, I would have missed out on working with youth groups.

Working with youth groups really made me read my Bible because they ask seriously tough questions. Reading my Bible made me tune into and listen to the Holy Spirit which lead me to write and share God with others on my daily walk. Watching for God in the world around us is a Vacation Bible School concept. It all ties together; almost as if there’s some Holy Architect.

I’ve done a fair amount of wandering on my faith journey and though I have been lost at times, for the most part, I’ve really enjoyed the scenery and almost every skill I’ve learned along the way has been put to use to serve in some way, and for that matter, more than once.

I don’t have to have a plan or destination in mind and neither do you. We just have to be willing to follow and maybe wander a bit. Who knows how He will use those skills we are picking up along the way? He will use them; of that we can be sure.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂