Some of my friends don't like to go on adventures with me because when I am not sure where I am or how I am going to get to where we are going, I don't get upset.
At least that's the way it was until the last couple of days.
I was spending the day with my Naples family, relaxing some and taking care of a few errands. One special task was to find a mail center and send four boxes of Letters for Luv canvases that my granddaughter Allie, had created.
Easy...except...I had a very difficult time finding a UPS store and I missed more than one turn. Now I had thought this through. I had done the research. I knew where I was going. Right. Everything looked the same. And finally, though I didn't want to - I had to call my guru, my son in law, Wally. He's a city planner. He knows everything about highways.
By and by I found the place and although it was more expensive than we hoped, the packages are on their way.
You would think I learned my lesson.
My friend Deborah will not travel without an Atlas. Did I need one? Of course not.
The time for my return trip arrived.
I left Naples, made the first appropriate turn and then made a wrong one. I needed gas, so I drove on. I wondered if there are gas stations in that part of the world. Once that was done, I thought I must be close to the Interstate, so I kept going. The car's compass read north. I just assumed I would run into Interstate 75,
An hour and 10 minutes later, I finally reached I75 in Ft Myers. This part of my journey should have taken about 30 minutes.
Yes, I have directions on my phone. I even have the ability to verbally ask for help and get a nice response. But of course, as I finally realized I was asking for I95, GRRRR,
And yes, I did stop for directions - and at all three places I was met by language barriers.
You have no idea how happy I was when I saw a sign that said I75 North.
With great relief, I made my way onto the highway and then I started thinking about what I had done.
I wondered did I learn anything?
I'll get an Atlas before I take another trip. I'll also print a map of the area I am going to visit.
And do I find any spiritual truth in what happened?
John Newton said it best "I once was lost, but now I'm found, was blind but now I see." I'm pretty sure (and very grateful) that it was God's "grace that brought me safe thus far. . ." and that same grace led me home.
I've known about that grace my whole life and it's been real to me since I was a first grader and realized that although I was a good little girl (at least in my mind I was), I still needed to have a personal relationship with the reason we celebrate Christmas (and more than that Easter). He is "the way, the truth and the life" and so I'm never really lost.
May your life be filled with enough sunshine
to make you appreciate the shadow
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