A few weeks ago, I mentioned using an upcoming trip to San Antonio, Texas as an experiment in how to travel expectantly for business. I just returned from that trip and here’s how it went.
I left on a Monday morning, got in, had dinner with the client, was driven back to the hotel, went to bed, got up, went to all-day meetings, got taken back to the airport and flew home.
The closest I got to the Alamo was the Alamo Café for dinner, a decent Tex-Mex restaurant off the freeway, a compromise of good food and convenience. I only saw of the northern section of town (the area between the airport, my hotel and the offices where we met) and that seemed like a familiar confluence of strip malls and freeways. As we got further out of town – the client’s office lies ten minutes or so north of the city – we drove past highway-side retailers of animal feed and water tanks that quickly gave way to an undulating landscape (they call them hills there, a relative concept) of live oaks and cedars. That’s all I really saw.
We had a good day of meetings followed by a drive back through suburbs and shopping centers to the airport. I have no idea where the Alamo, the River Walk or even the river itself lie in relationship to where I was. Thus, in terms of seeing anything or tourist value, my trip was a bust.
But was it meaningful?
I got a lot of work done on the flight there. And I had small moments like extending my appreciation to the guy cleaning the airport men’s room – someone clearly not used to being thanked for a thankless job – or, conversely, receiving extensive gratitude from my client who was well-pleased with the outcomes of our time together.
I also got to know some of the people at the client’s office on a personal level and to discover shared interests and experiences.
On the stopover in Denver on the way home Tuesday night, I even saw orange-colored snow (the coloration caused by the exterior lights on the terminal) flowing horizontally above the tarmac, an odd phenomenon given that it didn’t seem that windy outside.
These were curiosities, moments of interest and some satisfaction. But were they meaningful?
Yes. At least to me. Here’s why.
I came on this trip primed to look expectantly to see what God would provide, how he might surprise me. And the biggest surprise of this trip was…no surprise. Nothing really out of the ordinary happened. But that may be exactly the point.
You can’t have a hot fudge sundae for every meal and have it stay special. Some trips like this aren’t exciting or glamorous but are meaningful simply because God is part of them. This may sound somewhat anticlimactic, but in the same way that sorrow often lies buried in our deepest joy, we frequently see or value the amazing fact of Emmanuel, God with us, only when that is all we have to see.
When I think of my trip to San Antonio this way, I can truthfully say that it was a good trip, a meaningful journey. Some day I may see the Alamo or the River Walk. That will be another trip – another kind of trip. On this one, I served my client well, made it there and back safely and intentionally sought God amidst all the non-events that happened. That was enough.
I’m content to know that despite a lack of “travel highlights” I didn’t make this trip alone. And most important of all, in reflecting back on my journey, it makes me realize that I never do.