Destination Home

I left Saturday morning at 8:40 to head to Paris, (TX, that is) to finish up some shopping for our ministry fair at church next Sunday. I stopped by McD's to pick up a diet coke, since I had been out till almost 1am at the ladies craft night at church (wait, who am I kidding? I start every day with a diet coke...I'm not gonna lie)....Anyway, with dc in hand and a quick stop to put $20 in the Expedition, I was on my way. I was be-bopping along, listening to the radio, all my favorite songs were playing...and I was thinking the day couldn't get any better.

But, then I found exactly what I was looking for at Hobby Lobby...ON CLEARANCE! So, I snagged them up, took a glance at the yarn, embroidery and scrapbook stuff...and well, pretty much the entire rest of the store. I checked out at the register feeling very proud of myself for the good deals I found.

Then I spotted Belk out of the corner of my eye and thought...maybe I was on a bargain streak and could find a few things to spend some of my birthday money on...so I moved the car over to the other side of the parking lot and entered the store. 15 minutes later I had formulated the opinion that this particular Belk must only cater to women who are nothing like me. But I happened to see many 70% off racks in the junior dept, so like any good mom, i perused the clothing options for Savannah, and within another 20 minutes I was out the door with 9 articles of clothing for 60 dollars. Not too shabby. I was feeling pretty darn good.

And maybe that's where things started going south.

Bruce called....needed to meet someone for lunch, wondered when I'd be home. I let him know I was on my way, talking through a stuffed mouth of nutter butters that I was inhaling because I had not eaten anything with my diet coke. Nutter Butters happened to be one of the few protein (albeit with sugar) items at the register at Hobby Lobby. So, with mouth stuffed, quite pleased with myself, I started the trek home. I thought.

Somewhere between Belk's parking lot and my brain, I took a wrong turn and winded up about 15 miles north of Paris..which is basically Oklahoma...give or take a few steps. When I finally realized I wasn't where I was supposed to be, I panicked...just a bit. But then I remembered that Bruce had plugged our address into our car's GPS so that if I ever got turned around I would always be able to make it home. I think I'll keep him a little bit longer.

So...I peeled, I mean pulled into a little old tire shop on the side of the road, finagled around with the GPS, until I saw...HOME. Without hesitation, I pushed the button, clicked on my address and heard the friendly, yet annoying, GPS lady say those words we all love, RECALCULATING. RECALCULATING.

And without hesitation I followed each turn, each caution that she suggested. And roughly 45 minutes later, I made it home.

Before I had even gotten a mile down the right path, I had already thought of the spiritual implications of this little adventure. God is so patient with us, allowing us the freewill to go down paths that won't get us to our intended destination. He waits and then without hesitation, when we are ready, gives us step by step instruction to HOME. Sometimes we take the wrong path because we aren't paying attention, sometimes because we get bored of the same way all the time, sometimes because we think we know better...but whatever the reason, it never gets us HOME.

There was such a peace and comfort when I remembered that Bruce had plugged our home address into the system. I knew I could get back there...back to where I felt safe, if I just followed those directions. The same is true when we follow the directions found in God's Word. When I follow His Words, there is peace. No, I may not always be comfortable but we will be safe, because He is our shield and defense, a present help in time of need.