Traveling Light
September 13, 2020 — Laura House
As I travel each month, it’s interesting to notice the luggage being retrieved by fellow passengers. Usually, my carry-on bag fits in the overhead compartment and I gladly avoid the baggage claim altogether, but sometimes I’m on a puddle-jumper with no room in the cabin for luggage. Some travelers are like me, only bringing a carry-on and computer bag, but others must have a Y2K approach to packing. Have you seen how huge some suitcases are these days?
But then there was Nathan.
With five people in our family, when we headed out for a journey, the van was usually crowded with luggage, supplies, snacks and meals, and anything else we deemed necessary for the trip. Gary was great at packing, surpassed only by Nathan, his engineering mind able to get an unimaginable amount of stuff packed perfectly in place. When we headed to a homeschool convention, we somehow found space for all of us, our personal belongings, and enough curriculum to fill the IEW booth that we were managing. I always joked that there was “breathing room only.”
But while the rest of us always needed a suitcase or duffle bag, Nathan was a minimalist when it came to packing. One memorable trip comes to mind when he packed all of his necessary items for the weekend into a shoebox (yes, that included clothing). Most of the space he needed in the vehicle was reserved for far more important items like his computer and books — always a lot of books.
Even when a beach trip required additional clothing items, he still preferred a small duffle; and when he headed overseas, he only took a backpack and purchased more clothing when he arrived.
Since Nathan moved to Heaven, it seems that nearly every story I write about him causes me to contemplate a spiritual truth that wasn’t so evident to me before. For example, in this case, I’m thinking about what “traveling light” means to my time here on earth. Am I dragging around an oversized suitcase full of earthly things that weigh me down and have no eternal value? Is my focus on things that truly matter? Am I storing up “treasures in heaven?”
In Matthew 6:19-20 Jesus teaches, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
On a recent trip I found a small wooden plaque that now sits on my kitchen windowsill. It says, “The Lord is returning.” If I’m perfectly honest, there is excitement in my heart when I contemplate that it could be soon! More than ever, I realize that this earth is not our home; we are truly passing through, simply becoming who we should be to spend our real life that will never end, with Jesus.
As we wait to be reunited with those we love, may we “travel light” here on earth. With diligence, may we seek the Lord’s guidance in our lives each day as we look to the future with great anticipation.
The best is yet to come.
