Scenic Route

When I get the opportunity to share my testimony, I oftentimes describe it as a scenic route to Jesus. Certainly I don't mean this irreverently at all - but simply that I tried and saw a lot of things before I came to know the love of our Savior Jesus Christ.
Like many women of my generation my relationship with my father was not optimal. I have also been flooded with options (thanks feminism...) from day one as to what I can do and where I can go. Sadly, like many of my generation the only place I want to be is in the arms of a loving father.
It gets a tad pathetic when you realize that you fit a stereotype. I look at everything from my old friends, to young girls at my church, to movies and music - "looking for love in all the wrong places" penetrates my soul. And like many of my peers - I tried it all. My parents shared the notion that "less is more" whne it comes to parenting. Due to this I had the opportunity to spread my wings at a very young age and experience life (to what I considered) the fullest.
It is encouraging however, to realize this is how God works. It still amazes me that God allows for (and even desires) for us to know Him at all. It is overwhelming that our God is both so infinite and intimate. Part of what we know from the scriptures is God's consistency. "If A, then B" is a common structure of the OT as well as all over our lives. If you obey, God will bless you (either in this life or the next) If you remember God, He will remember you and so on. The bottom line for me - as I am sure many others - is that God is not manipulative. Imagine a parent or a friend who lays all the cards out - and never changes their position, never shies away from their commitment to you. This is unconditional love - love we can only know through our Gracious Heavenly Father.
Anyway, I say all that to say that my "testimony" has changed a little in the last few months. I have been encouraged by people to redefine where I am on a variety of issues. God has stretched me and I have been reaching for even higher goals. I guess what I want to say is - I am still on the scenic route. I am still trying and seeing a lot of things. My road didn't end with Jesus - it is Jesus. Instead of looking for love - I am looking through love.

*again, no irreverance intended :)