YOU CAN’T GET THERE FROM HERE

When I lived in Little Rock, my roommate/best friend extraordinaire started telling me Southern phrases that she had never heard before moving to Arkansas. She was originally from California and moved around the Western United States her whole life. Have you heard any of these Southern terms? (Spelling is subjective. LOL)

-Cattywampus

-egg on

-fit to be tied

-fixin’ ta

-hankerin’

-hunkey dorey

-piddlin’

-tarnation

-knee high on a grasshopper

-happier than a pig in mud

-you’re right next to where you need to be

-‘em (Bob and ‘em went fishing)

If you don’t know what these mean, you should look them up for fun. They all make sense to me because I’ve heard them all my life. There are a good 100 other Southern sayings that just don’t come to my mind right now, except this one: You can’t get there from here. This is the one that my best friend and I got stuck on.

I believe the story went that her Dad stopped and asked for directions and the local man said, “You can’t get there from here.” The man proceeded to give them directions to another place where they could resume the route to their destination. She said, “That was the way there, so we could get there from here.” I said, “But you didn’t get there from here, you had to go somewhere else first.” We are both correct in our thinking.

The Southern term means, there is not a direct path from where you are, to where you are going. When I flew to India, I had to drive to Memphis to get on a plane. That plane took me from Chicago to the United Arab Emirates. I switched planes at UAE, and that plane took me to Chennai. Then, a taxi took further into the city. I couldn’t get to India directly from Arkansas. I had to go to some other places first.

As a teenager, I knew I was called of God. I thought I was going to preach and teach from the wisdom God had given me! God spoke to my heart and revealed things in the scripture. I thought I was well on my way to being a world-impacting minister. Let me tell you, I couldn’t get from Desire to Impact on a nonstop flight. I couldn’t get there from here. It’s been 15 years since that initial burst of desire to impact the world for Jesus.

I’m not saying that you can’t do good along the way, but in the Kingdom of God, there is ALWAYS a process! Looking back, I see my arrogance. I grew up in a Pastor’s home and thought I had seen everything there was to see in the church. I had watched my parents handle hundreds of situations. I had the advantage of a lifetime of leadership and ministry training.

During the early part of those 15 years, I directed the music at several events and spoke a little bit. It usually went well and people seemed to respond to my ministry. I prayed and fasted and tried to study as much as possible. I served in any capacity I could. I cleaned the church, taught bible studies, ran the music program, taught Sunday school, mowed the grass, and anything the church needed, I did it.

I was busy, but there was always something in my ministry that wouldn’t break through. I wasn’t getting anywhere from where I was. I prayed and told the Lord, "Whatever you have to do, I want to be impactful!"

Jesus loves to answer those prayers, with quickness.

The Lord had to take me to a place where I had a life layover. I had to go into a season of life-altering hurt and despair. I thought I was tough, I thought I could go through anything because I prayed. I thought I was impervious to depression and oppression because I loved God and fasted a lot. The Lord spoke to me and told me to not take a ministry position for a while. He let me know that I was going through a painful season, but it would be the most important layover of my life!

During this time, I quit reading the bible for messages. I started reading the bible for hope. I stopped praying for the next church service to be good, I started praying to have a relationship with God. I stopped living standards because I was in ministry and started living standards because I loved his word.

This stop was called Brokenness. I couldn’t get from Desire to Impact without going through Brokenness.

After about a year and a half, I felt the release to get back into ministry so I agreed to become the Music Director for my church in Little Rock. I thought this was the flight to my destination but little did I know, it was another connection. I cannot describe what happened during this time. It wasn’t as dramatic as depression or brokenness, it was subtle.

Year after year, I learned to love people in a way that I never had. The time of brokenness taught me empathy. I used to minister to people’s brokenness, but now I could feel their brokenness. I recognized the lost-empty look in their eyes because I had seen that same look in the mirror. I thought I used to minister out of love, but I would quickly get frustrated with people when they would mess up or not be sold out to God. I didn’t understand why it was so hard to just follow the bible and do the right thing, it didn’t seem that hard to me. I didn’t have true “unconditional” love for people. This stop birthed that in me.

I was at a church full of broken people like me. Each of our stories was different, but each person allowed God's love to heal their brokenness. That love and compassion poured out on the people around them. No matter what story you came in with, God and that church were going to LOVE you through your process unconditionally. I am forever grateful for the connecting flight I took called LOVE.

This journey went:

Desire -> Brokenness -> Love -> Impact

Even though I feel like my husband and I are in a season of impact being youth pastors, I know that our journey is not over. There will be times when God births a new desire and we have to go on a new journey. Sometimes journeys take many years, but I've learned that is a blessing.

The journey will take you from ministering through knowledge, into ministering through revelation, love, and brokenness. The more stops I have in the journey, the more I know I need it.

When we travel, I hate extra flights and layovers. My pet peeve is having my time wasted! Spiritual connections and layovers are never a waste of time. They are God’s investment in you!

Whatever your journey has looked like, just know, that you are not in the wrong place, you didn't miss something. God has just redirected your journey because you couldn’t get there from here.

As my dad always says, "Enjoy the Journey!"

Love,

Beka