The Roundabout and Other Musings on the Interstate

"A roundabout is a type of circular intersection or junction in which road traffic flows almost continuously in one direction around a central island. The single greatest benefit of roundabouts is that they eliminate perpendicular/T-bone crashes. The modern form was standardized in the United Kingdom." (Wikipedia)

My Maps App had accurately delivered me to my last appointment with my foot doctor, who had been highly recommended by fellow runners but whose office was located 30 miles from our home in an unfamiliar part of Phoenix.  My iPhone GPS faithfully guided me through nine directional steps without any disruptions or suspense.  However, the trip back home was going to be much more fun. It all started when the familiar GPS voice became disorderly and disoriented. Even for one who has openly stated that I, Linda, am directionally impaired, I knew something was wrong.  Once "the voice" had sanely completed the twisted maze from the doctor's office, I merged onto US-60 West homeward bound.  It was then that the guiding genius began to expel everything she knew.  She jabbered and ranted all past directional records, naming streets, avenues, and exits, suggesting that I take them all.  Strangely, though, she intermittently offered correct directions inside her rattling nonsense.   Instead of shutting her off, I let her show-off all she knew.

When she advised me to take the next roundabout on the interstate, I knew that she was feeding me unsound satellite advice, but I journeyed on because she was just plain fun now. Besides, for the first time EVER, I felt that I knew more than a GPS. The exit I wanted was the AZ-101 Loop North and her  false information, despite being delivered with authority, was not going to persuade me to "take the next roundabout on the interstate."  I laughed aloud when she directed me to make a U-Turn on the busy highway.  And, she repeated that direction!   Now, she was amusing and entertaining.  Who was she?  Where was she?  Why was she trying to deceive me?  If I had not known the general direction, I would have listened to her voice and become lost.  Finally, near my home exit, I felt for my iPhone and clicked off the free entertainment. 

You are just like the world, I mused: a voice with authority. Which way do I go?  To whom do I give ear?  Indeed, the correct directions were imbedded inside her clutter and chatter, but I had to be still in order to sort them out.  There is a lot of chatter out there trying to guide and influence us.  But the correct directions are imbedded within, but we can't hear His voice if we don't know Him. 

Isaiah 30:21  "If you wander off the road to the right or the left, you will hear His voice behind you saying, "Here is the road.  Follow it."
For us, that road starts with a church home.  Don't get lost!

Keep Looking Up!  And, thanks for following our Blog
J:m and L:nda

Fresh Ink

A Big Light Bulb Moment

We love it when we have an exclamation-point experience in our lives.  It's that moment when a light bulb hovers over our head, clearly evident to all around us.  Our eyes light up, spelling "AHA!" across our forehead.  We get it, have it, and now we own it! In reflection, when was the last time we all had one of those "I have it" moments?  Was it finally grasping how to use an equation to solve a math problem.   Or when we saw a documentary that left us thinking, "Well, I never knew that!"  Or was it when we learned a new computer program and felt as smart as a whip!  Maybe it was during a visit to the Apple store and a child still in diapers explained the difference between Notifications and Messages. That moment for us is akin to when rain hits the desert and everything is in full bloom.
 Here is another example: recently a new Spanish friend was explaining to us a religious cultural difference.  She is from South America but is an American citizen and has become a wealth of insider cultural information.  When she told us how she had tried to share the Bible with her family and friends back home, they did not understand even the most basic words of Christianity, even in her Spanish Bible.  She showed them the words in the Bible and it was like "fresh ink" on the page.  They had heard these words, but had never seen them written or had them explained.  She added that from the look in their eyes, they "got it," they "had it!"

Yet, surprisingly,  after we "have it, get it, own it," we look into our hands, and they are empty.  There is nothing there.  We really don't "have it," or do we?  We do.  The initial action is invisible; that is, it is an intellectual property, a cognitive understanding, which is invisible.  The results, though, are visible. How do we know the results are visible?  Because we don't want to go back to "before," to un-know the math equation, the computer program, the fresh ink of the scriptures.  We love the feeling of "after."

In the same way, God's amazing grace is like that. When He whispers, and we say, "Yes," we get it, have it, own it - His amazing grace.  The initial action of conversion is quiet and invisible, a property of the heart.  But the transformed life becomes visible.  All can see that we have changed.  We don't want to un-know; we love the feeling of "after."

Fresh ink: "I have written your name on the palms of my hands." Isaiah 49:16. 


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Keep Looking Up!  And thank you for following our blog! 
                                                                 J:m and L:nda