Traveling

Anyone who knows the Kriegers very well knows that we travel a lot. I mean a lot! While some people are content to stay in one place all of their lives, we take to the road and discover new and wonderful places.

In the first years of our marriage we lived in New York state and always travelled to Colorado for vacations. It was important to spend time with family there, and it was a visual treat to take our annual trek to the mountains. When we finally moved there, it was necessary to take a trip back to New York every summer to see the grandparents. And New York is beautiful, too, so we really enjoyed the trips.

A few years later, we became itinerant musicians who travelled all over the country in a motorhome. We, along with our children, visited every state except Alaska and Hawaii. We tried to take in all of the interesting geographical locations we could. So we’ve seen and done a lot. And our children remember those traveling days fondly. What an education they received.

After the children grew up we had the opportunity to visit 13 different countries, sometimes with tour groups, and sometimes on our own. We still have a couple more on our “bucket list,” but we are thankful for all of those experiences. Most people don’t get to see that much of the world.

Now that we’re approaching the 80 year mark, we are suddenly content to stay home. But we did make one last trip across the country this summer. Kansas to eastern Pennsylvania seemed long, but worth the effort. It’s getting harder to sit for hours. And even harder to stand up and walk after sitting for 2 or 3 hours at a time. What a silly sight we must be struggling to take those first few steps!

Our destination this time was the Montrose Christian Writers Conference, which we have ministered at for close to 15 years now. We had told everyone that this would be our “last hurrah.” So this time with old and new friends was bittersweet, to say the least. And friends we visited along the way knew that this might be our last car trip across the country, so it was hard to leave them, not knowing if we would see them again this side of heaven. It made the time all the more special.

There’s an old song that says: “This world is not my home, I’m just a passing through.” It points to the fact that we are pilgrims here and not permanent residents. Not even permanent travelers. Our destination and final home is the eternal land of glory.

Are you part of that kingdom? Are you on the journey to Heaven, learning along the way like Pilgrim in John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress? Are you taking time to enjoy the view? And is your GPS set for Glory?