Every time we have someone join us on a mission journey we tell them to put a rubber band on their wrist. Every once in a while we ask them to pop their arm. Why? As a reminder to be flexible. On the road (as well as in life) it is a common occurrence to have a curve ball thrown at your face. Really. How many times have you had it all planned out, then boo-yah, you get a flat tire, the dog gets sick, or you get dropped off in the middle the mountains in Laos.

Maybe that last ones not so common, except for Darlene and I.

Point is, You Must Be Flexible to Enjoy Life’s Journeys. Don’t take me wrong, I’m all for prayerful planning, but NO ONE always gets it right. We must make room for mistakes, changes, and roads full of ruts. Let me explain.

One of my most memorable trips came in Laos.

“So baby, we are going to this village to preach the gospel?” Darlene asked.

“Yep.”

“Sounds great. How do we get there?”

“I don’t know. Bus maybe?”

We headed to the bus station. No bus, the roads were destroyed because of the rainy season.

“How about a motorcycle?” I asked.

The attendant laughed.

“Okay, I’ll take that as a no.”

We headed back to the room and prayed. By the end of our prayer time we felt more than ever that we should go. So, once again it was back to the bus station.

“How about here?” we asked, pointing to one of the small dots somewhere in between our current dot and the dot we were gunning for.

“Why there? There’s nothing there,” said the man.

“Can we go?”

“Sure.”

We bought the ticket, hopped in the back of a truck, and got off at a trading post. Quickly we approached a few young men on bikes.

“Can you take us here?” I asked.

They laughed too.

“Excuse me,” said a girl from behind.

“Yes?”

“You go there? We from there? Go with us.”

Darlene and I looked at each other. Should we go? I mean, this was definitely out of the plans. It felt right and sounded good, why not?

We followed the two young ladies around the corner to a huge canoe pimped out with what looked like a Chevy 350 motor. An hour later we left,  two hours after that we got rained on, then we were hiding form the sun under our sarongs. A couple more hours later everyone but us and the driver got off, then it got dark, really dark, until finally after six hours we arrived. We found a bed and a mosquito net and slept till morning.

We awoke in one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been. It took a few more hours to get a translator, then we went and preached the Gospel to a  people, most for the first time ever. Once we were finished, getting out involved a four hour wagon ride from hell, waiting for a village funeral to finish, sleeping on a table in a corn shack, being dropped off at a random village, hiking, and then hitchhiking.

It is one of the best memories I have from all our travels.

Now, if we had not been flexible, we would have never reached our destination. Somewhere along the way we would have tossed up our hands and quit. We would have gotten mad at each other, the boat driver, the girls, and the water buffalo that looked at us so funny.

Mark your path. Plan your trip to Asia. Pen every stop. But, if things don’t go how you planned; stop, pray, recalculate, and keep going. Be Flexible. Enjoy the journey. It’s okay to have been wrong. Even Paul in the Bible planned a trip and had to change his plans.

Thank God.

Okay, now your turn. Can you relinquish control? Will you strap a rubber band around your wrist? If so, you might just find yourself in the middle of the greatest  adventure you’ll ever have.