Lost close to home

So I have a few friends that worry about me when I travel. Apparently they don't have any faith in my sense of direction and are afraid that I will wander off a cliff or something.

Well, I hate to prove these people right, but I had a ridiculous experience this morning. (No cliffs, involved, don't panic) I was having breakfast with a friend--not ten minutes from my house. As I left, I started to head back toward home, to head to work from there--but I realized that I was closer to work where I was, so I took a left in the direction of work.

I was pretty confident that I was going in the right direction--seeing city buses that were headed to the bus station that is 2 blocks from our office was reassuring. But as I looked at the streets go by, they started going down.. lower than the number I was looking for.. 66, 65, 64. So I turned around...and went down two blocks to the next street that wasn't one way in the wrong direction, only to find that it didn't go through, but stopped only one block over.. so I had to go around the block again...and nothing looks familliar at this point.

Meanwhile, this was supposed to save me time, and it's been more than 30 minutes since I left my friend. I head in the opposite direction, see a familiar intersection, head in what I thought was the correct direction.. and then end up where I had been twenty minutes before hand! It was so frustrating, because I knew the right road was there. The signs led me there--but then I couldn't find it.

I ended up following a familiar road a few miles in tne wrong direction, toward home, where it suddenly got familiar, and I was able to find my way to work.

But it occurs to me that I do this with my life too. I go in what I am convinced is the right direction...and I still get lost.

Still Looking

So I'm thinking the pilgrimage really never ends, does it? I mean, if we're looking to encounter God--shouldn't we look for him everywhere?

And yet, we do have to work. We have to work to put food on the table and clothes on our backs, etc. So a working pilgrimage is a good way to look at doing life.

So I'll chronicle what I can of the journey. From all I know to be true of God--it should be an amazing ride.

Treasures

So, just because we can catch glimpses of God on our travels, doesn't mean we have to stop looking for him once we reach home.

For instance, when you sit at the wedding seeing your best friend from seventh grade walk down the aisle. It's a crazy feeling, knowing that she's that girl you giggled till all hours of the morning with, possibly over this very day, then, far in the future-- but she's also this completely grown woman, who's making a commitment to a man you know so little about--but because she loves him, you love him too.

And she looks completely beautiful, and different and the same...and I know I'm contradicting myself but it's all true. I felt so very proud of her. We haven't been in touch nearly enough over the years, but I was so glad to share her special day.

It's funny to think about childhood friends, though. We all impact each other's lives in so many ways, but no one quite like our chlidhood friends. This friend, Kate is her name--she always accepted me for exactly who I was...and was unfailingly generous and giving. I think its possible that she is still an example in my head of what a friend should be.

And now this post is making me miss her...and the girls we once were. But it's also funny to think, that those girls have had a host of experiences since then, and have turned into some incredible women who can take the treasures of childhood and love others the same way.