The Road Taken

 Sunday I did a bit of traveling....to PA to pick up middle daughter. I have done the trip before....route 11 to 81 ...that is it! But I was getting off at a different exit, so I put the new stop in my Google Maps App ...told me 6.5 hours...seemed about right...calculated when I needed to leave to be there by noon..all good.

Hit the road at 6am...scheduled arrival 12:15. 

Early on it told me to take a turn I wasn't expecting.  "That is ok...maybe it is rerouting me around the summer festival, or road construction". 

I continued on...following every turn it told me,  I began to wonder...it hasn't brought me back around to Route 11??

I pulled over and took a closer look at the whole picture ....it was having me travel all different roads...curious? Maybe because my destination was different than usual? My arrival time was still 12:15...so why not continue on this route?!  An adventure...on my own!  

I appreciated the small towns and villages, gas stations in each one if I needed. Flag lined streets, parade remnants, road side stands, very little traffic and no large trucks.

Never went more than 25 miles or so with out Google voice telling me "in a quarter mile turn..."

Not as monotonous as the interstate. 

When family members called they would ask "Where are you?"  "Not sure,  little town on route?.."

My husband wanted to know "Why I was going that way...out of my way!?"  "This is the way the map sent me... I don't know why"

I had thought of finding  the interstate and getting on. But I was still on schedule...so why not stay on this route.

Well, once I got to my destination....I ended up having some wait time.  I decided to check out my map. I knew I was going home the usual route ...straight up 81. When I put it into Google Maps to see how long (since the trip down was just over 6 hours)....something wasn't right...it wasn't showing 81 as a route. 

It was then I realized a filter had been checked..."avoid highways" !!!!!!  Unchecked the box and the route home via 81....just under 5 hours!🤦‍♀️

📖In their hearts humans plan their course,
    but the Lord establishes their steps. Proverbs 16:9

As I drove home the usual route; faster; all kinds of vehicles traveling 70 or better...2 or 3 or even 4 lanes, ducking and diving. I realized how peaceful and enjoyable my drive down was.

Maybe someone (I am sure my husband) would say "Before you set out...take a look at the whole picture!"

But maybe then I would have said no...that way is longer and slower.

Sometimes we need to just follow the directions and trust.

I think about our journey here...as we follow Christ, sometimes the direction doesn't make sense. It isn't the usual way, but if we trust Him and follow, who knows what adventure we might find.  It may take us longer, but there is a reason and a purpose in the direction...Maybe just to see if we will follow.

📖 When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”  John 8:12

And sometimes the road is familiar, what we know, but there is purpose in that too. 

🙏No matter the road  you are traveling today, trust in the One who makes the map. Trust Him to be with you as you travel and when you reach the destination. ❤

📖 The Lord makes firm the steps of the one who delights in him;
24 though he may stumble, he will not fall,  for the Lord upholds him with his hand. Psalm 37:23-24