July 19, 2020

A few weeks ago, I took my littlest to visit with her best friend, whose mom is also a very dear, sweet friend to me! Before we headed there, I texted her for the address so I could plug it into my car’s GPS.

When I received a text back, it had her address along with directions on how to get there. I skimmed over it and thought I will just listen to my car tell me where to go because, you know, a car must know where everyone lives….my first mistake.

As I plugged the address in, GPS told me it didn’t have the house number but asked if I would like it to take me to the middle of the street. I thought, “Sure! How sweet of the car to be able to take me as far as it could!” Once I’m on the street, I will know exactly where her house is.

Easy peezy! The drive time there was to be 25 minutes according to GPS.

And off we went. I remember turning down a road thinking, “I don’t remember this from before”, but I continued on. The sun was out, the weather perfect, no problem.

As we continued to turn down different roads, my littlest noticed all of creation, pointing out everything God had made and how beautiful it all was. I absolutely LOVE her attitude about everything in life!

Twenty-five minutes passed, and we still weren’t at our destination. We were on gravel road and then GPS said, “turn left”. I passed it because I didn’t see a street sign, and nothing looked familiar. However, nothing looked familiar going forward so I turned around, and GPS said, “turn right”.

No, not “What Would Jesus Do” but instead what my husband, Jason, would do. I knew, of course, he would take the risk because a few years ago when we were in Maui going down the Road to Hana, at the very end of the road, there is a smaller dirt road that said, “Enter at Your Own Risk”, so we did, and boy it was an adventure, especially heading back…..at dark….boy oh boy….another story for another time.

So, I turned in. We were on a bumpy dirt road, and it was narrow, so I was hoping another car was not going to come the other direction. I thought GPS must be taking us the back way because I never remember them living on a dirt road.

All of a sudden, GPS says, “You have reached your destination.” I stopped and looked around saying, “We have NOT reached our destination. This is NOT the middle of their road!”

My littlest immediately exclaims, “BUT we are in the middle of the fullness of the glory of God’s creation!” I absolutely loved her outlook because I was a little concerned how we were going to get out of there, and she just made me smile.

So, I called my friend and told her about GPS taking me to this road and what the sign said. She warned, “Do NOT go in there! That’s a level B road!” (I found out that is what the other sign said, but I didn’t understand what that meant anyhow) I said, “We already did and now we are in the middle of nowhere!”

She then said, “Turn around!” I told her I could not turn around because if I tried to do that, I would get stuck on either side of the road in a ditch because the road was only big enough for my car and there was no way I could back out of all the bumps and crazy curves for the few minutes that I was driving in because I knew I’d just end up in the ditch.

I told her I was just going to have to keep going straight and pray that there was another road somewhere that I could get onto. I continued a little farther and saw a road! I was SO relieved! She told me to go to a nearby landmark and that she would text me directions from there.

As soon as I turned onto a gravel road, I pulled up alongside the first place I could and the sign said, “No trespassing”. I told my littlest to watch the long driveway, and if she saw someone to let me know. I am a very visual person and pictured a hillbilly of sorts coming out looking scruffy with blue overalls, a hat, and a gun! I locked the doors and read all of my friend’s directions. That’s what I should’ve done in the first place!

We finally arrived at their home with a total trip time of almost an hour! I was SO thankful to be there and that we didn’t get stuck on the other road or have someone shoo us off their property. We had a wonderful time visiting and I am so thankful for the perspective of my little one on God’s creation or else I think it would’ve been easy for me to get anxious and upset.

Later that evening, I was telling my husband about our adventure. He said he would not have gone down that road. I reminded him that he would’ve because he did it in Maui. He then reminded me that in Maui we were in a jeep, not a four door sedan that sits low to the ground. He said he couldn’t believe we didn’t get stuck and was surprised there was a road on the other side because he said sometimes those roads are only one way and usually for tractors.

After thinking through everything from that day, I asked my littlest if she remembered what the sign had said before we drove in. She said, “Enter at Your Own Risk”. I told her that I shouldn’t have gone in there because that was a big warning sign to not do it, and if we would’ve gotten stuck, we might’ve not gotten out easily and could’ve hurt the car or we could’ve gotten hurt.

Her response was, “BUT we saw the fullness of the glory of God’s creation!”

I told her that even though we did, and we had a little adventure, that we still should’ve taken the sign as a warning to not go in there. I told her that if she’s ever driving or riding with friends and sees warning signs like that, do not take the. risk of going in. I told her that was a bad example of me not following directions or heeding a warning.

I told her many times throughout life, we will have choices to make on who or what we will listen to, and we must be discerning because even though some things may look good, in the long run, they could hurt us. I think she understood where I was coming from….I hope.

I think often how we are so stubborn to listen to God’s direction for our lives. We tend to want to take control, jumping into things and doing what we think is best for us instead of being patient and slowing down to listen to what God’s Word says.

It reminds me of the Israelites in the desert. They were so stubborn to do things their own way even though time after time God showed His patience and faithfulness to them. It took them 40 years to get through the desert when it should’ve only taken them 40 days.

Sometimes God will allow us what we ask for to teach us that is not His way or plan for us and will patiently wait for us to give up control so He can be able to work in and through us.

Even though we think that GPS, or anything or anyone else, is leading us in the right direction, they are fallible, too.

I am so thankful for the continuous lessons the Lord teaches me, and I know I won’t stop learning until He takes me Home.

Blessings,
Jennifer