On the road

Elena took a bunch of pictures while we were driving around this past week, and I thought you might want to take a ride with us.  The truth is, I'm kind of a homebody, actually, really really a homebody.  When I do get out, I sometimes get lost. I know it's an island, how hard can it be?  Well there are all these intersecting lines called roads and they jumble and tangle and unless I have an eagle's eye view, they don't make any sense to my brain- it just doesn't compute for some reason.

So yeah, driving stresses me out.  I'd rather go for a long walk or a hike than drive, in a whole lot of traffic, to somewhere I've never been.  I've been known to go the wrong direction on one way streets, and some other embarrassing mishaps that I won't go into.  It's just not fun for me.  That's why praying while I drive is second nature to me.  Prayer has saved me from ending up on the opposite side of the island than I intended to be on.  It's saved me from accidents.  It's literally saved my life on the roads, more times than I can count, and I'm sure, more times than I'm aware of.  It's helped me find my way again and again.  I don't get lost nearly as much as I used to, because I know now not to try it on my own- tried it, it doesn't work so well.  I pray, study the map (I don't trust our GPS) and follow the signs.  It's a system that works for me.  I do my part and He does His, and I find my way.

We're a team- He and I, and even though I feel like He's the navigator and I'm just sitting in the driver's seat following directions, it's me who allows Him to do the navigating, and I still have to do the driving.  It's my life after all, and He would never take the choice of where I go or the route I choose to get there, from me.  He doesn't work that way.  The choice is always up to me.  I can still say, "No, I think I'll make a turn here," even though the sign clearly says not to.   We all know where that kind of driving leads to.

Sometimes when I'm out on the road, I think about the people in the cars around me. We're all on the road together, being guided in certain directions, doing our own thing, following our own paths.  I could never keep track of the mass mess that the traffic appears to me, but God can.  He knows where each of us are and where we're headed.  If we ask for directions, He'll give us signs along the way and help to get to where we need to go, and most importantly- find our way home.