10 June, 2008

Which Way?

I'm directionally challenged. I know this, and try to do my very best to get where I need to go in a prompt and timely manner without anyone being any the wiser. This is difficult, if not impossible, when traveling in an unfamiliar city where there are detours and one-way streets with redundant names.

You've probably already guessed that I'm going to report that my cover has been blown. Oh, yeah! While at Synod Assembly this past weekend I became hopelessly lost on my way back to my motel room. It became apparent how dire the situation had become when I received multiple phone calls inquiring as to my whereabouts from those with whom I was traveling. Let me provide some background:

At lunch that same day I had a conversation with one of my Pastors about my penchant for list making and scheduling. I do this daily and I'm very good at it. It's both a blessing and a curse. As much as I like being productive and timely I am, conversely, thrown into a tail spin if something unexpectedly interrupts my plan for the day and puts me behind. I know that this is my cross to bear. We talked together at some length about how I might be able to adopt more flexibility in this area. The old "let go and let God" motto came to mind. I decided to pray about it and be more deliberately mindful of this affliction of mine, we left the cafeteria together to attend the afternoon meetings and forums. Only hours later I found myself driving in circles, literally. I wasn't only interrupting my own schedule now but those of the people waiting on me for dinner, including both of my Pastors! There was a new, heightened, sense of frantic urgency about my situation when I thought about disrupting the plans of others and throwing them behind, too! I made a few more attempts to find my own way and realized I was passing the same buildings and intersections, wasting precious time. I found a drug store and pulled my car into a parking slot. I went inside and asked for directions. The pharmacist drew me a map, I was close, very close, to my motel after all! In no time, after asking for help and consulting my directions I was back "home". Naturally, I was on the receiving end of some good-hearted ribbing at dinner. I expected that. What surprised me though, was God's rapid-fire response to my hurried prayer only hours earlier with an object lesson on flexibility, and asking for assistance, that I won't soon forget. Knowing one's own limitations is eye-opening, being stubborn and attempting to self-improve without surrendering to God's help is like running full-tilt, aimlessly, in circles. It is through grace; His grace alone, that I'm back on track. What can God do for you today?

..."Amazing Grace how sweet the sound,
I once was lost but now am found..."

Life is Good!

8 comments:

Nancy Near Philadelphia said...

LOL -- we are very alike in this way!

Reminds me of the time my sister and I were lost in Reading (where we'd gone to shop outlets back in the day when we did such). We got hopelessly lost for 20 or 30 minutes. Finally we passed something and Bonnie said, "This looks familiar." I told her, "We've been lost so long that EVERYTHING looks familiar!"

n, np

Nane said...

Once was blind, but now I see...sometimes it takes others to help us when our own eyes fail. Missed you last night.

Salem Stitcher said...

I pride myself on my navigational abilities. I can usually find my way around easily with my own built-in compass...except when leaving your house. I can get there without a problem. I just can't get back without doing a tour of the northern end of the county. I laugh every time. God is giving me a little humble pie.

Quiltdivajulie said...

Amen ~ I so needed the message of your posts from yesterday and today ~ thank you!

Kim West said...

I have the hardest time with directions myself. My husband laughs at me because if I have to go somewhere new for an appointment (where I have to go alone), I make him drive me the day before so I can find it myself the next day. When I can't do that I leave an extra amount of time early armed with a google map there and back (here the roads don't make sense and you can't always go back the same way you came to get back). My guild friends know I have a directional disability and drive for me a lot. I am not above asking for directions once I get lost either.

Paula, the quilter said...

My DH has an inner north, but unless I have my mountains, I get lost. When I visited a friend in Wyoming who lived in a mountainous bowl I was so messed up: I had mountains all around me! I stop and ask directions if I need to and if there is someone around to ask. We are, after all, in a rural mountain area and most times can not see a horizon line.

Lindah said...

I can so identify! I even get lost inside unfamiliar buildings. I lose my table in restaurants. That was a good lesson. Thanks for sharing it.

Rhonda said...

LOL... I know how you feel! I'm the same way!

I got lost coming home from my sister's house one time. We've been at her house many times, but DH was driving each time. I was driving that night with DD in the car, and we were driving around in circle for 30 minutes before I found the freeway. Well, when DH heard of my "got lost" episode, he went out and got me a GPS. LOL The funny thing is that I still get lost while using that thing!