Joy in our Journey

The car ride to and from St. George went as follows...

Because of Andrew's job situation, there have been quite a few trips in the past almost 6 years we have been here in Colorado I have made out to visit my parents in the past on my own. Just the girls and me. A year and a half ago my parents moved to St. George. 11 hour drive with the girls. Last year on the road there with the girls, we broke down. There is a sign that comes just after Green River stated that there are no services for 100 miles. I broke down 45 miles into that last year :) If you read back on my journal entry, you can find that is was the best day of Angela's life and turned out to be a fun Girl Adventure together. Anyways, in the past the ride has been something I have just wanted to get over with. Just drive and hope the time goes as quick as possible. I always loved road trips in the past - just don't have a love of driving. Anyways, I decided that this time my roadtrip was going to be different. I didn't want the day to just be one I wanted over with. I wanted to enjoy the ride. It was hard. And to be honest - I constantly had to remind myself to enjoy the ride. To look around me - at the amazing beauty that surrounded us. The beautiful red rock near St. George and the beautiful green and gray mountains in Utah - truly breathtaking. On the way back home I enjoy listening to about 5 hours of "FableHaven" with my girls. Long story short - driving wouldn't be something I would pick to do but it was a great experience for me to be able to try to enjoy the ride - find joy in the journey. Enjoy my surroundings. It reminded me of Elder Uchdorf's talk from this past conference entitled "Grateful in any Circumstances."  He talks of the joy that can come with finding the blessings in trials. Not afterwards (although that is good) - but during the trial. In the past, driving to and back from St. George was just something to get through and something I wanted to be done quick. This time I tried my best to enjoy the ride. This reminded me of Elder Uchdorf's talk - how much more happy I was to enjoy the ride instead of just trying to get through it. If I can apply that to life always- to find joy in any circumstance - in any car ride - I can enjoy the blessings that Heavenly Father pours in my life (in the car ride one blessing was enjoying the beautiful earth).