{"id":12541,"date":"2024-07-08T19:00:57","date_gmt":"2024-07-08T23:00:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dianaderringer.com\/?p=12541"},"modified":"2024-06-22T15:08:13","modified_gmt":"2024-06-22T19:08:13","slug":"down-the-road","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dianaderringer.com\/down-the-road\/","title":{"rendered":"Down the Road"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/dianaderringer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Down-the-Road.png\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-12542\" src=\"https:\/\/dianaderringer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Down-the-Road.png\" alt=\"Down the Road--road leading into a greenery-covered tunnel\" width=\"337\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dianaderringer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Down-the-Road.png 337w, https:\/\/dianaderringer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Down-the-Road-225x300.png 225w, https:\/\/dianaderringer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Down-the-Road-202x270.png 202w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 337px) 100vw, 337px\" \/><\/a>When I was a child, several relatives lived down the road from us. My sister and I often walked to their houses to play with our cousins.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">We also spent time wondering what God had down the road for our futures. Where would we live? What would we do?<\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: left;\"><strong>Down the road has two meanings.<\/strong><\/h3>\n<ol style=\"text-align: left;\">\n<li>On the same road or nearby<\/li>\n<li>In the future<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">This post will focus on the second meaning.<\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: left;\"><strong>It pays to plan for what lies down the road.<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">\u201cFailing to plan is planning to fail.\u201d That quote or similar ones have been credited to Benjamin Franklin, Reverend H. K. Williams, and others. Yet, the source remains uncertain. Regardless of who first said it, the truth endures.<\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: left;\"><strong>We face an uncertain future.<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Although we want to plan, life offers no guarantees. Therefore, we prepare for our goals. Yet, we also prepare for life\u2019s unknowns.<\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: left;\"><strong>God remains with us both now and down the road. <\/strong><\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">In spite of life\u2019s uncertainties, we can always count on God\u2019s peace and presence. Whether our plans work out or go <a href=\"https:\/\/dianaderringer.com\/down-the-drain\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">down the drain<\/a>, God promises <a href=\"https:\/\/dianaderringer.com\/keep-on-keeping-on\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">never to leave us alone<\/a>. All we have to do is follow Him in faith.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><strong>\u00a0<\/strong>As we travel down life\u2019s road, may we never stray from the <a href=\"https:\/\/dianaderringer.com\/straight-and-narrow\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">straight and narrow<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">\u201cMixed motives twist life into tangles; pure motives take you straight\u00a0down\u00a0the\u00a0road\u201d (Proverbs 21:8 MSG).<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Thanks to Beckham Wilson for the suggestion and the photo.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Do you have an expression you want explained or a thought about this one? If so, please comment below.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/dianaderringer.us5.list-manage.com\/subscribe?u=11983df7ac45be83499003741&amp;id=1797662da7\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Subscribe to receive my weekly posts by email<\/a>\u00a0and receive a free copy of \u201cWords of Hope for Days that Hurt.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">If you enjoyed this post, please share it with your friends.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When I was a child, several relatives lived down the road from us. My sister and I often walked to their houses to play with our cousins. We also spent time wondering what God had down the road for our futures. Where would we live? What would we do? Down the road has two meanings. On the same road or nearby In the future This post will focus on the second meaning. It pays to plan for what lies down&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/dianaderringer.com\/down-the-road\/\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[677,923,3107,443,181,858,470,1569,561,889,182,925,3108,26,116,283,2484,486,924],"class_list":["post-12541","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-wisdom","tag-devotion","tag-diana-derringer","tag-down-the-road","tag-encouragement","tag-faith","tag-future","tag-god","tag-gods-promises","tag-idiom","tag-idioms","tag-jesus","tag-life-lessons-from-english-expressions","tag-lifes-road","tag-peace-2","tag-plans","tag-tunnel","tag-uncertainty","tag-wisdom","tag-words-wit-and-wisdom"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Down the Road - Diana Derringer<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"When I was a child, several relatives lived down the road from us. My sister and I also wondered what God had down the road for our futures.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/dianaderringer.com\/down-the-road\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Down the Road - Diana Derringer\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"When I was a child, several relatives lived down the road from us. 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