On the Road

I'm was traveling today, from Huntington to Alexandria, VA.

As I traveled, it occurred to me that I seemed to be traveling back in time, through my life.

My first stop on the road was Charleston, at our office. This is the present -- the reflection of one of the changes in my life.

From there, I took the WV Turnpike, passing by Beckley, where my grandparents lived. How many times have I ridden in car to Bradley? I couldn't begin to count.

From Beckley, I64 to Lewisburg, and then past Covington, where my grandparents lived through my grandfather's last position in a construction job. As I drove by, I could smell the paper plant. Such a distinctive odor that I would recognize it anywhere. Strange how smells stay in your mind.

As I drove through Virginia, I passed Mananas, where my grandparents lived prior to Covington.

Now I'm in Alexandria, just a stone's throw from Annandale, where I lived until I was 6. I remember that house, going to kindergarten down the road, playing in the yard.

The mountains have their own time, and a wise man doesn't try to hurry them. Diana Gabaldon in A Breath of Snow and Ashes

Looking back at my life, through my childhood, and thinking of how my work life has changed in the past year, I am reminded of something. I used to be a research associate; I now work for the church. I used to do western blots, DNA isolation, and fellow training. Now during a day at work, I might write a trust agreement, work on a PowerPoint presentation or collaborate on a brochure. My work life has changed.

What has not changed is that the person sitting in both chairs -- in the lab and in my new office -- is me. How can one person have two jobs that are so different from one another? How can one person's gifts be used in such different ways?

But I am the person who was born in Washington, DC, visited grandparents countless times in a Virginia and West Virginia, lived in Huntington, got married to my best friend, had two sons, got a masters degree in biology and now work for a Foundation.

It just amazes me sometimes. God does indeed work in mysterious ways.

Image: A train running along side the WV Turnpike.