For our 40th wedding anniversary, my husband and I decided to visit the Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C. Instead of flying, we chose to take a road trip—the same way we traveled before we had children.

Marshel carefully planned the drive, maximizing our time at the museum. Our first stop was Texarkana, Texas.

The next morning we were already behind schedule. Actually, the day we left, we were behind schedule. That's because I am late everywhere I go, and he is early everywhere he goes. This trip was already a mess, and we hadn't even left Texas!

To his credit, my sweet husband simply took a deep breath and said, “It’s okay. We can make it up today.”

When we arrived at our second stop, I asked, “What time do I need to be ready to leave the hotel in the morning?”

He answered, “9:00 a.m.”

Great! We were finally on the same page. I could do everything I wanted to do that morning and still be ready on time.

And it worked.

I read my Bible, showered, got dressed, ate breakfast, and was sitting in the car ready to go by 8:50 a.m.

Success!

We had found our rhythm. This was going to be a great trip.

The next day was scheduled to be our longest driving day and the most important day to stay on schedule. That was the plan. However, a large storm moved through the area. Instead of staying ahead of it, as Marshall had intended, we found ourselves driving right through it.

The storm slowed us down significantly, and we ended up stopping earlier than planned. To make matters worse, we kept losing track of the time changes from state to state. Sometimes it looked like we were on schedule. Other times it felt like we had suddenly lost two hours. At no point did it seem like we were on time.

The entire trip went like this.

Finally, we arrived in Washington, D.C. As we crossed the Potomac River, we began discussing George Washington and his famous crossing of the Delaware River. Curious, I looked up the story and was surprised to learn that Washington was approximately three hours late crossing the river.

His delay ended up helping him win the battle. The enemy expected him much earlier, and when he didn’t arrive on time, they assumed he wasn't coming at all. Washington and his army were able to surprise their enemy and secure a victory.

That story stayed with me.

We had planned to visit the Museum of the Bible on Monday, but we didn’t arrive until Tuesday. When we finally got there, we discovered that admission is free on Tuesdays.

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Our trip home was just as disorienting. We still couldn't seem to keep the time changes straight. Since we had originally planned to spend two days at the museum—and ended up staying both days—we assumed we would arrive home a full day later than expected.

Yet somehow, despite adding two extra stops to an already behind-schedule itinerary, we arrived home a half day earlier than Marshall’s original plan.

Only God could orchestrate something like that.

God is good. His timing is perfect.

This trip reminded me of Proverbs 16:9:

“A man’s heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps.” NKJV

We can make our plans, calculate our schedules, and map out every mile. But ultimately, God is the One directing our journey. Sometimes His timing feels late to us, but His purposes are always right on time.

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