Andiamo

We were traveling through Italy with the whole family when an older Italian woman struck up a conversation with Caleb on a train.

She was friendly, animated, and apparently very interested in whatever she was talking about. The only problem was Caleb didn’t understand a single word she said.

Not one.

That didn’t stop her.

She kept talking. Caleb kept smiling. Both of them seemed perfectly content with a conversation that neither one of them could actually have.

As the train approached her stop, she suddenly became much more animated. She pointed toward the door and began saying the same word over and over.

“Andiamo! Andiamo! Andiamo!”

Then she stepped off the train and disappeared into the crowd.

A few minutes later, Caleb looked it up.

It means, “Let’s go.”

For the rest of the trip, it became part of the family vocabulary. Every time it was time to leave for dinner, catch a train, or somehow move nine people from one place to another, somebody would inevitably yell, “Andiamo!”

That made me think.

Life has a way of constantly inviting us forward.

Sometimes I’d rather stay where I am. Not because life is bad, but because some moments are so good that I wish they could last a little longer. Sitting with family in a café. Watching grandchildren laugh. Standing in a place I’ve always wanted to see.

But life doesn’t linger.

Children grow up. Seasons change. Opportunities come and go. The train eventually leaves the station whether we’re ready or not.

I’ve spent parts of my life looking backward and wishing I could relive something. I’ve spent other parts looking so far ahead that I missed what was right in front of me. Neither one is where God asks me to live.

Scripture repeatedly describes faith as movement. Walking. Following. Going. God rarely shows the entire road ahead. More often, He reveals enough for the next step and asks us to trust Him with the rest.

“Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives.” Galatians 5:25 (NLT)

The older I get, the more I realize that faith is less about having the whole map and more about being willing to move when God says move.

Maybe that’s why that little Italian word stuck with me.

Andiamo.

Let’s go.

What next step might God be asking us to take today?

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