DETOURS

A few months ago I started a new position in a new location from my prior job. It actually has shortened my commute and it is an easier drive as it is mostly a straight shot on the highway and then just two other fairly short roads to travel.

About two weeks into this commute, they started construction on the first road after the highway. I was afraid there was going to be a detour that would make it more difficult to get to work. The original road was a two lane divided road. I was happy to see that they closed one whole side of the road and on the other side reduced it to one lane; one for each direction of traffic. Doing this alleviated the need to really put a detour into people’s travels.

As a side note, it was actually a bit unnerving at first driving with just the two lanes of traffic and on the “wrong” side of the road. Right away I thought that one should pay close attention to make sure no one was driving in the wrong lane, something that would be easy to do with the different traffic pattern.  It would be so easy to have a head on collision occur. I actually did see at two different times, cars driving in the wrong lane! Thankfully, they both noticed before long and were able to get in the correct lane.

 

I thought this sign on the last road of my commute right near the construction was perfect.

 

Last week, on that same road, the intersection where I need to turn to get to the third road was blocked off too, so there is now a detour! The detour takes me further away and adds about three minutes onto the commute.

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The other day while at a baseball tournament in Hershey, PA with our youngest son, I went for a walk while waiting for the game to start; something I tend to do frequently since there is usually an hour of practice ahead of time and I have to drop him off.

The school, the Milton Hershey School, where this tournament was held was huge; it actually felt more like a college campus. It was interesting looking up the history of the school which originated as a boarding school for male orphans back in 1909. Today it has both males and females of different backgrounds.

So, I started walking around the campus observing the beauty of the landscape, the huge buildings, and athletic complexes around the area. Before I knew it, I decided to turn around but then I couldn’t remember all the turns that I made! Suddenly, nothing looked familiar and there were so many paths I didn’t know which way I was suppose to go to get back to the ball field!

A path at the Milton Hershey School in Hershey, PA.

 

I had to chuckle to myself, thinking what a God-incident, because at the same time, I was listening to a song entitled, Faith, a new single by Colin Dyer.  The words from the song that stuck foremost in mind, while trying to find my way back to the ball field, was “Ya gotta have a little faith.”  For me, at that moment, it was having faith to find my way back before the end of the game!

I called my husband, once I could hear him after finally discovering I still had the head phones plugged in but not on my ears, jokingly asking him if he could track me from my cell phone! At that same time, I finally saw two people walking that said they were from the area. The gentleman pointed to the building I should go near and he said go left around there.  At the moment, I thought they were my “angels” in disguise.

Unfortunately, I followed his instructions to go left around that building and continued walking for a long time! The next day, I retraced my path and found if I had gone to the RIGHT of that building, I would have arrived quickly right at the ball field!  I sure had a nice, long tour of the campus; my 20 minute walk turned out to be more than an hour. I ended up missing 35 minutes of the ball game too!

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Both of these events in my life led me to reflect and think about detours in our lives.

What are some detours relating to your walk with the Lord that you have experienced in your life?

….Maybe a calling from the Lord that you knew at a young age, but didn’t come to fruition until you were older when it was fanned into flame through a series of events in your life?

…Maybe living years ignoring the Lord calling you to live for Him instead of for worldly desires?

…Maybe starting either a college path or career path one way then realizing you needed to follow the Lord’s leading which lead you down a different path?

Photo credit by Emilio Labrador under Creative Commons License (CC BY 2.0)

 

What are some things we can learn from detours in our lives?

…It is really okay to have detours in our lives.

…We need to keep pressing on to the end result.

…We need to be patient and not panic.

…We should enjoy the scenery and the ride.

…Even if for a time you are lost in your way, keep seeking the way.

…That detours can end up being the greatest blessings.

…Keep the final destination as the goal…it is not so important how we get there,  but that we get there!