Voice Activated

Have you ever been driving down the road and you know your destination and how to get there and all of a sudden you look up and you are in completely unfamiliar surroundings on a road that you are not supposed to be on?

Have you ever completely missed a familiar turn?

What about unexpected road blocks or construction or wrecks or debris in the road or detours?

Or have you ever been told not to get on a certain road, but you just knew you knew better and then you got to learn the hard way?

Have you ever been in a lane that was merging into another one and you had only a split second to avoid a major disaster with the cement barrier and two other travelers that all needed space on that one chunk of concrete all headed in the same direction at break neck speeds?

That is what it looks like when I drive most of the time.  Those are all things that happened along my journey just this weekend.  And all of them struck me as very familiar elements to my spiritual journey.  Sometimes it is easy to get back on track with a simple u-turn.  Sometimes you have to drive for miles to find a place to turn around.  Sometimes it is easier just to hit the recalculate button on the GPS and choose a completely different route to your destination because you find out that going back would really be longer and more difficult than just choosing a different route to the same destination.

My phone has a handy-dandy little app that will calculate a route for me and give me step by step directions on how to get to the destination, but I have to follow it.  I have to pay attention to the directions it gives me and the signs along my route.  I have to PAY ATTENTION!  I don’t have Siri…YET!  I don’t own a GPS that speaks to me…YET!  After this weekend…I am ready to get something that will SPEAK to me so I can keep my eyes focused on the road and not the little map.

And about the spiritual journey…I’ve been given the best GUIDE I could ever hope to have.  He knows where I’ve been, where I am going, the best route to take and all of the hazards and obstacles in the way.  He knows who is on this journey with me and when our paths will merge and cross and what we will need to avoid in order to stay on the path and not collide with each other or that thing that is in BOTH our ways.  And all I have to do is Ask Him and then PAY ATTENTION!

Into the Light…without a GPS

No I didn’t get lost again.  In fact…I think I’m beginning to find my way around…without a GPS.  It’s a bit early to tell…how many days does it take to make a habit?  I’ve heard it only takes 3 to break one.  I have a few habits I’d like to make and a few I’d like to break.  Somehow that 3 day rule only applies to good habits you don’t want to break as far as I can tell….but I’ll keep on with my research in this topic and let you know what I discover.

In the mean time…

I’d like to get back to consistent DAILY blogging.  I’d like it to be consistently worth your time to read.  I’m shooting for uplifting, filled with life and light.  Those are the habits I want in my life.  Those are the words I want filling the space around me.  You can get plenty of the opposite on any channel you tune to on that box that is sitting in your living room.  Unfortunately you can get plenty of that just about anywhere you go these days.  I am hopeful to fill this space with words that will be a breath of fresh air to you.  Words that cause you to dig deeper into who you were made to be.  Words that cause you to ponder about life in a way that lifts you up.  In order to fill this blog with those things…I’ve got a few habits I need to develop…and a few to break.

I got to spend some time with a few people like that today…at least from the vantage point I had.  Sure, they are human and I’ve not spent loads of time with them, but something in their eyes tells me they have every intention of living out the things they say.  Something about their walk says they walk with the King of Kings more days than they stumble.  Their light-hearted spirit tells me it isn’t a chore for them to live this way…it’s a privilege!  Their intentionality tells me they mean business.  I want to have that look in my eyes and that swagger in my step.  I hope to have that kind of life so this space can be filled with those kinds of words.

See you peeps tomorrow…

Just another day in the driver’s seat!

Oh my word!!! Would someone please buy me a GPS? I need one that will talk to me and tell me how to get where I am going….even if I already know how to get where I am going. I used to think I didn’t go enough places to justify the cost of one. I am beginning to think I need one if I am going to back out of my drive way. Shoot! I may need one I can hang around my neck to get me from one room to the other.

This morning I kicked my Dad out of the driver’s seat so I could take him to the airport. He didn’t know how to get there and was going to attempt to drive and follow the map on his Ipad….simultaneously. Hey, he wasn’t going to text and drive because that would just be a bad idea. I KNEW how to get there…no problem. Uh, would someone please tell me when they did the construction that made the straight shot not so straight if you happen to be in the wrong lane? Thankfully Dad had his trusty Ipad to get us back on track. No….I didn’t let him keep it in front of my face as I was driving in major traffic…in construction…already a bit rattled…texting and driving would have been a safer bet. I got him to the airport on time and thankfully don’t have to go back to pick him up for a while…my nerves really do need to settle before I do that drive again.

Um…then I headed home…:D!

Who knew I lived North of the Airport?

After a little scenic drive I found my way home without the use of a map, a GPS or the trusty blue dot on my iPhone. Miracles really do still happen! The fact that I get anywhere I am going is 100% proof of that! No…I am not going to tell you where I went before making my way back home…just a leisurely Sunday morning drive.

All was not lost…maybe a little time…but that’s all good.

Here are some things about life I learned today as I was driving around:

• Don’t be too cocky about knowing where you are headed…someone may have changed up the road.
• Know which direction your destination is from your current location…just because you know the destination doesn’t mean you will get there if you go in the wrong direction.
• When you discover you are lost be willing to take directions from someone else…even if that someone is the person you originally kicked out of the driver’s seat.
• If you follow the signs you can always find your way back home if you just take a deep breath and relax.

Now…I wonder how much a good GPS would cost?