There was a woman who settled in her life’s routine. Like most she grew up with dreams. She wanted to be a doctor, world famous dancer, even an astronaut reaching for the stars but when it was all said and done the farthest she got was a 15-minute bus ride 5 miles from her home. Day after day the alarm clock would wake from her solitary sleep, wash, put on her navy blue dress for work and her flats, ate toast and drank hot tea, before grabbing her purse and descending the eight steps to the bus stop in front of her stoop.

Day after day…wake, wash, dress, eat, purse, steps, bus, work. Week after week…wake, wash, dress, eat, purse, steps, bus, work. Month after month and year after year…wake, wash, dress, eat, purse, steps, bus, work. The most intriguing part of her routine was the bus ride. Each day the #82 bus would pick her up from in front of her home and drive five miles pass the grocery store, 2 McDonald’s, a gas station and a school to the law office where she worked as a secretary. Day after day, #82, grocery store, Mickey D’s, gas station, school, work. Week after week, #82, grocery store, Mickey D’s, gas station, school, work. Month after month and year after year…#82, grocery store, Mickey D’s, gas station, school, and work.

As time passed she settled into her routine and became not happy but content with her life. She accepted that she would never be a life saving doctor. She believed she would never dance for the world nor see the stars as an astronaut. She had never journeyed pass the five miles it took to pass the grocery store, 2 Mickey D’s, a gas station, and school, on her way to work. She minimized her dreams from infinity to fit within a five-mile radius. She no longer believed in the possibilities of what she could not see and only believed in the certainty of her daily reality. Somewhere and at some time she lost faith and stopped dreaming.

One day her alarm clock failed to sound the beginning of her routine. As she rushed in a panic her day became anything but regular. Her wash was rushed, her dress was wrinkled, cold buttered bread would have to serve as her breakfast, her purse was a wreck, and her usual eight steps were cut in half as she hurried to an approaching bus. Desiring to regain some normalcy to her routine she stopped, took a breath and found her usual seat. ‘This isn’t the usual driver or the usual passengers’ the woman thought; a notion she quickly deemed irrelevant. Pass the grocery store and pass one then two McDonald’s before passing the gas station and the school. As the woman prepared to exit at the law office, an even more unusual and unexpected wrench in her routine would occur. The bus coasted clear pass the law office.

Immediately fear took over the woman as she realized she inadvertently boarded the express cross town bus. She frantically searched for a remedy to a situation but this was new. She did not know what to do. This was completely outside of what she was used to. She didn’t know the turns the bus was making. She did not recognize the places she was passing…or did she? A sign, “Allied Nursing Institute” caught her eye. Her head swung as a sign “Dance School” entered her vision. She glared in aw as the sign directing traffic to the Space & Science Center passed. She reminisced with thoughts of her childhood. A flood of calm and wonderment overtook her. She began to remember there was more to life than the five-mile world she constructed for herself. 

There is more to life than just what we experience each day. The world is greater than our individual neighborhoods. Even the number of people whose lives we were created to touch is greater than the members of our immediate family. Sometimes we let life bury the dreams. Too many disappointments caused us to lose faith or accept a belief that it was not meant for us. We cannot wait to accidently get on a bus out of town to remember all that life has buried. Dream again. Set new goals. Stretch beyond your comfort zone. Do something different and you are assured that something different will happen in your life. To walk with God, you have to first start walking.