I'm not Lost

I am directionally challenged.  It's a fact.  There isn't anyone who truly knows me who will argue with that little bit of information.  I couldn't find my way out of a paper bag or my own back yard.  I do not possess the built-in map type of brain that my husband or our 2 oldest children have.  My youngest son and I are lacking in that department, unfortunately.  He might argue with that, but we both know the truth, we are 2 peas in a pod when it comes to directions.  And yes, we still get our right and left mixed up.  We just say this way or that way while pointing, it makes complete sense to us.

Once when I was in grade school (ok, more than once) I got lost walking home.  I can remember that sense of being lost so vividly because the fear was overwhelmingly great.  We had just moved to a new neighborhood, which meant new schools, which meant new streets, which meant I was going to get lost that afternoon--it was going to happen, I just knew it.  And sure enough just a couple of blocks after leaving the school I looked around and nothing was familiar.  I backed up against the building behind me and through wide eyes tried to see which direction I should go.  Left or right, straight or backward, I was unsure.  I decided to keep going straight and when I saw the fence that separated my house from our neighbors I all but fell on the grass and hugged my front yard with happiness.  I buried my face in the grass.  I was home.  I wasn't lost any longer.  I was safe.

Can you even imagine my elation when navigation systems in cars were released?  I thought maps were the greatest invention of all times--until navigation!  Navigation rocks!  I love it.  The minute it was new car time for me--I knew that I wanted one with navigation. An entire new world opened up to me the day I drove that car off the lot.  I knew that all I had to do whenever I felt unsure of my whereabouts was to push the home button--and then like magic it would safely guide me back to my house.  Home, not lost, safe.

I will never own a car without a navigation system, not ever.  It's a crutch for me.  I'm not too proud to admit it, I need direction, and guidance, I cannot see what is around the next corner of my life.
Sure, once in awhile I still make a wrong turn here or there, but with one flick of a button, I am on the right track again.  I can go anywhere, do anything, be anything--with navigation.  I can lean on it, depend on it--I am free!  It is a miracle.  It truly is.  It is a guide, a map and a voice of reason all in one.  Mine talks, yours probably does too.  Navigation is now a staple in my life.  I can't live without it.  I don't think anyone in my condition should have too.  After all, I am kind of handicapped if you think about it.  It's sort of like a disability--to be directionally challenged.  I need it.  I wonder if it's covered by insurance?


I'm not lost.  I have navigation.

I also have another type of navigation.  One where I'm never lost, always found, always safe, always home, always free.  I remember that day too.  The day I found my way home.  Into His arms, into His safety.  I'll never be lost again.  He found me.  He made life safe for me.  It's a miracle, it really is.  A whole new world opened up to me.  A guide, a map, a voice of reason--in my crazy directionally challenged life.

Thank you, God for being my navigation system.  I need you.  I'll never go anywhere without you.  I'm home now.  I'm safe.  As long as I have you.