The Road Often Traveled...

I was thinking while driving one day.  My children (and husband) were sound asleep in the car and I was alone to my thoughts.  I glanced at each of them; one was drooling, another snoring, another smacking their lips while they slept.  {now the real fun...match the action to the person...lol}

I was driving along a road I have traveled regularly since 1997.  This road has seen a lot from me.  My fears of starting college.  My joy when I got married.  My first and only speeding ticket.  My pain and then relief upon leaving my college town.  My numerous trips to the in-laws, first with 2 of us, then 3, and now 4 in tow.  I have felt just about every emotion while driving that road.  When things are quiet like they were during my drive I get to reflect.  There are even certain "landmarks" that bring back certain memories.  For example, there is one landscape we drive past right past Maysville that is pretty all the time, but when I see it I see 3am Christmas morning with snow on the ground and a clear beautiful sky, because I remember driving to Ashland that year after Midnight Mass and how beautiful it was. 

As I was driving and seeing these landmarks which always come with their own emotion-memories, I realized something.  Each time I drove this road I was searching.  While I may have been searching for my destination, I was also searching for my meaning in life.  I have my beliefs, but they still don't completely answer why we were put on this earth in the first place.

I figured out what I think is the reason we are put on this earth as I saw my sleeping family.  I believe I was put on this earth to experience all the joy and pain of being a parent so then I may understand how God feels about me.  The extreme and all encompassing love I feel for my children can not be understood until one actually becomes a parent.  There are certain songs and movies that I can no longer watch since becoming a parent because I become an emotional basketcase because I can relate to them so much.  If how I feel about my son and daughter are really just a fraction of His love, then wow!  No wonder he wanted us to experience it first.