A tumbleweed passed in front of my car on this long stretch of road, as I was driving from Oregon to Utah for a short stay to study a hobby farm on my way to New Mexico.
At first glance, a rooted tumbleweed plant can look like a green shrub, blending in with the other desert plants.
It’s only when it dries out, detaches from its root, and begins rolling in the wind that you realize what it truly is.
As I continued navigating the “long road home” with God, I found myself reflecting on what He has been teaching me about the metaphorical tumbleweeds of this earthly life.
The “Long Road Home” is the narrow path.
It’s how I describe the path we take to build our eternal spiritual home alongside our temporary earthly one (Matthew 7:13-14).
It’s easy to forget that we are building both at the same time and that they influence one another. (Matthew 6:10)
We can focus as much as we want on the tangible people, places, and things of this world, but it doesn’t change the reality that we will only carry our spiritual treasures beyond this brief, vapor of a life (James 4:14, Ecclesiastes 1:2).
Here are a few of the lessons God is teaching me on this “long road home”—lessons that I’m still learning to embody daily:
This life is more of a pilgrimage, less of a journey.
“Happy are the people whose strength is in you, whose hearts are set on pilgrimage.”
Psalms 84:5 CSB
Psalm 84 captures our soul’s longing for God’s eternal house, as we navigate the temporary “thorns and thistles” (war, pain, injustice, sickness, sin, death) of this broken world.
For weeks, God kept drawing me back to this verse. It surfaced during prayer and in unexpected moments. I sensed there was a key point still hiding in this passage, and He was patiently waiting for me to dig it up.
That moment finally arrived during a conversation with a former colleague at a friend’s celebration of life.
We were talking after the program, and she was asking me questions about my faith journey this past year.
As I was calling it a journey, she said—“I’m not sure if journey is the right word. Maybe more of a pilgrimage?”
Something immediately clicked. It was a bit of an “aha” moment, where the lightbulb turned on to expose the fresh revelation from His living Word (Psalm 84:5) that was eluding me for weeks.
· A pilgrimage is an eye toward God and His eternal treasure—Seeking first His Kingdom.
· A journey is an eye toward the tangible outcomes or worldly comforts.
I realized I had been toggling between the two.
The key was to learn how to prioritize the pilgrimage over the journey (Matthew 6:33).
I wasn’t wrong to pursue the tangible plans— building aligned relationships, reconnecting with my inner artist, creating the nonprofit, writing the book/devotional, and learning more about ways to connect regenerative farms and community gardens to social services.
These are all part of working toward the vision God planted on my heart in 2024.
But I was still figuring out how to rest in His presence and letting the Holy Spirit lead me.
Stop chasing the tumbleweeds.
“I have seen all the things that are done under the sun and have found everything to be futile, a pursuit of the wind.”
Ecclesiastes 1:14 CSB
Following the “long road home” is not easy in a world that drives us to chase what looks green today, but will be gone tomorrow.
This is why God calls us strangers and exiles in this world (1 Peter 2:11, Philippians 3:20) and reminds us that this earth is not our permanent home. (Hebrews 13:14)
I can recite the passages from heart, and maybe you can too—
· Seek first the kingdom of God. . . (Matthew 6:33)
· Store up heavenly treasures. . . (Matthew 6:20)
· . . .anyone who loses his life because of me will find it. (Matthew 10:39)
Simple truths, yet unnervingly difficult to live out in a world that rewards performance.
Our human nature clings to the green” tumbleweeds we can see—career, relationships, status, control, and comfort—believing they will satisfy and sustain us.
For me, it wasn’t until those “green” tumbleweeds began to detach, dry out, and roll roughshod over my heart’s landscape that I finally began to understand.
By early 2026, almost all of my past tangible comforts were either disrupted, surrendered, or lost.
In that stripping away, I began to see more clearly: God is the only lasting good, and Jesus is the only true home where steady peace can be found, even as life’s storms continue (Psalm 73:28).
It took me years to stand on this truth—to recognize that His peace offers the rest and fulfillment I had been searching for in things that could never fully sustain me.
““Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Don’t let your heart be troubled or fearful.”
John 14:27 CSB
This realization shifted something deep within me.
I began to intentionally set my heart on pilgrimage, learning how to follow what I think of as a “Spiritual GPS” rather than the world’s tempting shortcuts.
· “For we walk by faith, not by sight.” (2 Corinthians 5:7)
· “The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” (Matthew 26:41)
· “Not by strength or by might, but by my Spirit. . .” (Zechariah 4:6)
As I stepped out in faith to embody these verses (no matter how awkward or foolish or imperfect it looked), He was faithful to redeem certain aspects of my myself and my life, both seen and unseen, that I had lost along the broad worldly path.
It’s less about the destination and far more about who we are becoming.
God’s plan for our lives extends far beyond what we can understand. He is a generational God (Deuteronomy 7:9), and each life is one part of a much larger story He has already completed.
We live in what I call the “messy middle,” a story still unfolding for us, but already finished from His perspective.
While we do have free will, we often forget that God is omnipresent. He exists in the past, present, and future. He knows exactly what we are going to do before we do it.
So when we’re thinking we got lost or made a wrong turn, He knows exactly where we are.
When our hearts are turned toward Him, no matter how tangled the mess of our “Unruly Gardens” become, He is faithful to guide, correct, and walk with us through the discomfort.
He makes a way in His timing, and places us where we are meant to be, because our days are already written (Psalm 139:16, Acts 17:26).
He is sovereign and holds authority over our own free will within His greater story.
“We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.”
Romans 8:28 CSB
Even when our plans fall apart—as they often do on a faith walk marked by uncertainty—we can trust that He is still at work, shaping and forming us into His image.
This is how He transforms our “Unruly Gardens” (heart posture), restoring who He created us to be and the purpose He planted within us.
There are moments when it’s difficult to discern His voice from our own or from other competing voices.
Yet, when our hearts are set on pilgrimage and we commit to the “long road home” we become more comfortable with leaving the broad path in the rearview and embracing the scenic route.
Devotional prompt:
What are the tumbleweeds preventing you from prioritizing God’s presence and purpose in your life?