Southern Indiana Living Magazine - Sept / Oct 2023

Everyday Adventures
The Biggest
Road Trip
When I was four years old,
I took the biggest road
trip of my childhood. Of
course we wouldn’t have
had to go far to earn that title. But this
was legit: 700 miles.
Most of the places I’d ever been
were within five to ten miles of my
house. If we drove the sixteen miles to
Corydon, that was a big deal. The 35-
mile trip to Clarksville was considered
going “up town,” which was basically
like traveling to New York City. And
crossing the river to Louisville? Forget
about it. You needed a passport for a
trip like that.
So when my aunt joined the army
and ended up stationed in Savannah,
Georgia, I couldn’t even get my head
around how far away that must be, until
my family decided to drive there.
Unfortunately for me, the people
in charge of this trip, my grandma and
my young mom, hadn’t done a whole
lot of traveling either. But that didn’t
stop them from throwing me and my
teenage uncles into the family station
wagon and heading south.
At least that was the plan. Somewhere
around Tennessee, which is normally
a short state to cross on the way
to Georgia, we got turned around and
ended up heading west. When you
drive across Tennessee in that direction,
it’s actually a long state, like a really
long state.
Eventually, though, we ended up
back on track. By this time, however, my
confidence in my family’s navigational
skills was rapidly diminishing. Somewhere
in the Smoky Mountains, when
the sun began to set, I was pretty much
done. It was obvious I was nowhere
near home, and this trip didn’t seem to
be ending anytime soon.
That’s about the time I started crying,
“I want my dad.” I wasn’t really
sure how I’d ended up in this mess, but
I knew if my dad were there, he would
protect me and somehow get us home.
In 47 years, not a lot has changed
in my life. I’ve done a little more traveling
since I was four, but, like all of us,
sometimes still find myself feeling lost,
lonely, and homesick. Not in the geographic
sense, but in my soul.
There are times when we may all
end up on some spiritually dark roads
feeling far away from home. It may be
because we took a wrong turn or maybe
because someone else was at the wheel
or perhaps it’s just one of those places
life takes us.
Regardless of how we end up
there, the best way forward is the one
I chose as a preschooler: crying out for
our Dad.
My dad on earth is a great guy, but
when we ran into trouble in Tennessee,
he didn’t happen to be there at the time.
But my Dad in heaven? He’s always just
a prayer away, and when we cry out to
Him, He has the power to reach into
the darkness and help us find our way
home.
Many years ago, a friend of God
named David talked about this very
thing. He once imagined traveling to the
ends of the earth: up in the sky, down in
the deepest caves and across the ocean
and beyond. In each of these far off
If we drove the sixteen miles to Corydon, that
was a big deal. The 35-mile trip to Clarksville
was considered going “up town,” which was
basically like traveling to New York City.
places David declared, “even there your
hand will guide me, your right hand
will hold me fast” (Psalm 139:10 NIV).
It doesn’t matter how dark of a place we
may end up in life, David said. God is
already there.
So the next time you find yourself
feeling lost or alone, cry out to One who
wants to protect you and guide you like
a good father should. Even if you’ve
never talked to Him before, He’s there
just waiting for you to ask Him to lead
you home. •
Photo credit: Kenneth Sponslor / shutterstock.com
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WHERE’S GOD?
A Psalm 139 Story
A picture book by author Jason Byerly
Available in paperback and hardback on Amazon
Jason Byerly is a writer, pastor, husband and
dad who loves the quirky surprises God
sends his way every day. You can read more
from Jason in his books Tales from the Leaf Pile
and Holiday Road. You can catch up with Jason
on his blog at www.jasonbyerly.com.
34 • Sept/Oct 2023 • Southern Indiana Living