GPS & Detours

As you may or may not have read a few weeks ago I was in Shreveport to be apart of a movie. (I know you are thinking "wow, she's still on THAT??!?" but please just bear with me.) While I consider myself at a moderate level of being famaliar with Shreveport, I was not certain of the roads to take to get to the Century Tel Center, which is where I was supposed to park. I typed in the address into Trixie (my GPS) and went on my way, noting that Trixie said it would only take me about 3 minutes to get there from my Pops' house. As I am driving down the road, I am seeing these detour signs and when I get to the bridge I need to cross I see that it is closed. Trixie starts freaking out and talking to me in "that tone" of disappointment that she is having to "recalculate". At this point, I am really not sure of how to get to "the other side" of the river and to the CenturyTel center, because Trixie just wants me to make a U-turn and go the obvious way, across that bridge that I was near. So, for the first time in my life I am having to follow these orange and black DETOUR signs all the while hoping I don't miss one and wishing they were more like NEON signs in the sky saying "Faith, take this right turn. Faith, now turn left. Faith, go three more miles. Faith, you are almost there. Faith, this is the right way." However, much like life there was nothing of the sort just a little orange and black sign on the right side of the road that said DETOUR and usually had some arrow pointing in a direction. I should also remind you that this DETOUR was to a certain highway near my destination not directly TO my destination.

So there I am, following these black and orange signs and the clock is ticking away. Trixie is now saying it will be about 15-20 minutes before I arrive at my destination. I start to get a little anxious about possibly not arriving on time or not even finding the place. Suddenly, I noticed something. Here I was fully relying on these signs put up by some "unseen person" when I could look at the map on Trixie and tell I was getting farther away from my destination and all the while I kept hearing Trixie say "Recalculating" or as I applied this to life, Trixie represented what people say "This is crazy. This is not the right way. You need to turn around. You deserve better than this. You need to....You need to....This isn't....." Anyone else following me?? These small signs on the side of the road were ultimately guiding me to my destination just on an unconventional path, a path with more bumps, turns and stops than the obvious way that was closed down.

From this point on in my journey here, everything was parallel to a current life journey. Yes, the road is longer. Yes, the road comes with a high price of hurt and toil, but what does that matter when I am following the "unseen person" when I am following My God who has clearly and sometimes discreetly laid out these DETOUR signs for me. Others may not even see the signs and therefore not understand the way I am going but I have to trust that these signs lead me to Him. These signs teach me that life is about the process, not the event, not the destination, but the process. Its in the processes that we learn who God really is, and how great His love and grace and mercy is for us. In the processes when we are stripped of ourselves and we totally rely on Him and His word that we learn what it means to truly whole heartedly trust Him.

Turns out, the Detour signs lead me to the correct highway and Trixie now understood and was able to help guide me the rest of the way. Oh and was I late? No. I was right on time. Just like I am in life. Late maybe in some eyes but right on His time.......and its His clock that I am I watching.