During the holidays my family traveled to London, England, for a vacation. The trip was an analogy of a much more important journey each of us is on--fulfilling God's plan for his or her life.

For one thing, the preparation was longer than the journey itself. We prepared for months, checking flight times and prices and making certain all our paperwork was in order.

Some of the preparation was tedious and time-consuming. How true this is in the spiritual realm as well! In fact, the season of preparation God requires of us often drags out so long we get discouraged because we are eager to be going somewhere.