#194. Traveling Mercies

The first time my brother prayed for “traveling mercies” I thought he was praying for a band. Honestly, it sounds like a side project Dave Matthews and that insanely muscular violin player are involved in. “Tonight, opening up for Widespread Panic, it’s the Traveling Mercies!”

Apparently though, traveling mercies are not a hemp-loving band but rather a prayer request to have a good trip. A safe trip, a happy trip, a fun trip etc. But what exactly are traveling mercies? Have you ever stopped to think about what we’re asking God for? I did and came up with a short list of what I think traveling mercies are when you’re on a road trip:

1. That you will hear Tom Cochrane’s song, “Life is a Highway” at least once.
2. That you and your father-in law will not get kicked off the New Jersey turnpike because your moving van weighs too much.
3. That you will not bust capillaries in your eyeballs from drinking too many Diet Rockstars or other energy drinks.
4. That you will employ ninja-like focus in not having to use the bathroom at a gas station.
5. That if your ninja-like focus breaks down you will employ a hover move so that you don’t touch any surface (the floor, the door handle, the toilet etc) within the gas station bathroom.
6. That your friend Carsten will not throw up in the car when you drive passed a paper mill.
7. That you will not throw your flat tire with rim still attached over the siderail in the mountains of North Carolina because you are dumb and in college and named Jon Acuff.
8. That none of your friends will tell you stories that start off with, “let me tell you about this weird dream I had last night…”
9. That you will honor the “eat at least one piece of beef jerky while on a road trip” rule. Unless your vegan.
10. That you will not be wooed by siren gas stations that appear close to the highway but upon getting off to get gas turn out to be 19 miles away.

Those are a few of my traveling mercies. What are yours? I think the comments you leave are usually funnier than the posts I write. So let’s play “Traveling Mercies Thursday” and see what you do on the road.

(Thanks to the many folks that suggested this one.)