Country Roads, Take Me Home... to the place I belong.

It was never about the destination.

Life taught me that.

Or maybe better stated, I was already there. I just hadn’t realized it yet.

But while walking this dusty, dirt road, step after step, prayer after prayer, day after day, I arrived. Perhaps I’ve been there before, but the daily reminder each morning NEVER EVER gets old.

Some see a dirt road, but it’s so much more than that. It’s my Emmaus Road. It is the road whereby the Master Rabbi teacher appears, radiating from within, teaching, healing, loving, and guiding me to the truth in all things, just as He promised He would. And just like the disciples felt walking that illuminating Emmaus route with Jesus, my heart burns within me. With every step, with every word that comes from my Father's mouth, I feel like I’m levitating down the road. I know I’m on earth, but I feel like I’ve already arrived in heaven because of one thing...

Jesus.

Jesus is my Heaven.

I could be sitting sipping herbal tea while overlooking the lights of the Acropolis in Athens, nestled at a balcony table in Greece, or somewhere along the stunning Amalfi Coast, and yet there is not a view in the world that I would trade for the dust beneath my feet on this country dirt road in the middle of nowhere Alabama.

This is the road where I learned to abide in the Vine, where we became One, I in Him, and He in Me. This country farm is where He has taught me to hear His voice, where He has opened my spiritual ear, and where our love story has culminated in its epic consummation, a communion that fuels everything I do in this life.

I’ve already obtained it all. I have Him. I have His Words. I may still have much to achieve in the time I have left in this world, but the spiritual truth is: I’ve already won. In the game of life…I’ve won, and if you have Jesus, if you have His Spirit…

So have you.

You have forgiveness. You have been reconciled to your God. You have access to the Voice that created this entire world. You have His peace, joy, truth, guidance, love, Spirit, and presence. You have it all. There’s not a view in the world that can compete with that.

It’s not that I didn’t hear His Voice in times past, but ABIDING, truly ABIDING…you in Him, Him in you, unseparated, one voice, one heart, one passion, and one purpose…it just hits different.

The wrestling God ended years ago. There is only embracing now.

If it were just exercise, I could, on occasion, skip out. But I’m not missing walks with the Shepherd of my soul in the cool of the day. I’m not missing my master class with the greatest teacher and revelator who has ever existed. It’s just like the hymn says, “He walks with me and talks with me along life’s merrily way.”

Had I only known all those years what I was missing, I would have put down the distractions immediately. I would have found my dirt road sooner. I would have risen early to talk to Him, just to say, “Hi, good morning. I love you. I’m here. I just want to be here with you. This moment with you makes all my other moments better. You can talk. I can listen. We can sing. What do you want to tell me today? What are we doing today? I’m ready to work. Put me in, Coach! I’m here to serve you. Do you need my mouth? Use it. Do you need my hands and feet? Take them. Take all of me. Whatever you need. I am yours. I’m so thankful to have arrived at this place with you. Thanks for bringing me here. I know it took you a lifetime, and my heart runneth over with joy and gratitude”.

The God of this world is waiting for you: to sup with you, to commune with you, to personally guide you, to be your very best friend. Are you missing out on the greatest friendship and romance of all time? What wisdom are you forfeiting, and for what… doom scrolling, a Netflix series, reels, and the opinions and commentaries of countless others who pale in comparison to the Voice that can guide you to the Living Waters you’ve been thirsting for your entire life?

Find your dirt road. Pray in the Spirit. Ask for interpretation. Listen. He is everything, and He wants to talk to you. He’s so wise and funny! He’s intentional. He has a plan and a purpose for you… to prosper you! Yes! It’s a prosperity gospel! Prosperous beyond your wildest imagination, exceedingly, abundantly, over and beyond ANYTHING you could hope or imagine. Not the counterfeit prosperity that tells us to chase possessions, but the prosperity Christ purchased for us: a restored relationship with God, freedom, authority, healing, wholeness, and an inheritance that exceeds anything this world could offer in all areas of our lives, spiritually, emotionally, mentally, physically, financially, and relationally.

What you have inside of you is far greater than anything you can experience outside of you, and the beauty of the outer is only experienced in its fullness when the beauty of the inner reflects the character of the One who created it all.

I often write to my former self, and if my younger self could find this, I would say the following to her…

There is a road for you, an Emmaus road. Look for it. Go now. Start walking. Run. The Holy Spirit is waiting there for you to blow through you with a wind that is like a cool mint breeze to the soul - cleansing, washing, refreshing, and invigorating.

Now listen carefully; nothing you will ever do or experience is greater than prayer. Learn what prayer is. Ask God to show you what it truly is. It’s not begging and pleading. It’s communion, conversation, fellowship, and friendship. Misti, it’s POWER AND AUTHORITY. You will find your Voice when you find His, because it is His. Your Voice will become His Voice, and this is when the game will change forever. You will learn to pray without ceasing, my dear, and oh, the joy of sweet fellowship that awaits! It’s the perfect relationship you’ve always longed for. It’s available now! Don’t wait. You can have it sooner than you think, BUT, there are things hindering you. You MUST let them go. You MUST. You can do it. Open your hand to what you are clenching. It’s insatiable. You’re holding counterfeits. He is the Original. Jesus is offering a water that quenches. It’s yours, but first…let go of the weights that have so easily ensnared you and find the road, Misti. Look for the narrow one and then run. Run the race. Jesus is the prize. Seek, and you WILL find Him when you seek Him with all your heart. He is a rewarder of the righteous and of those that diligently seek Him. He is your trophy. He will not disappoint. You’re gonna love where this road is leading. He promised you. Lots and lots of precious promises! God does not lie, and it's better than you think. Yes, way better! For all the royal ones who seek Him first, He makes streams appear in the desert in their lives. He brings heaven to country dirt roads. Jesus comes through the gate of the human heart, and He makes everything beautiful…everything, Misti. Just wait…you will see. You will SEE.”

And today, future Misti, does. She sees.

“And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;

Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.

I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.

Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; BUT YOU SEE ME: because I live, ye shall live also.

At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.

He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.

Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world?

Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.”

~ John 14: 16-23