Recalculating

     I was born needing a GPS. It's amazing I found my way of the womb. I had trouble finding my way home on my first day of school. We lived a block and a half away. Before GPS, when I drove in a big city, I would study maps and driving would be my test. Oh, how I hate story problems. Then I would make notes with turn-by-turn directions. (At least driving is an open book test.) But no matter how detailed I tried to be, I would forget something. I found the right exit, but when I needed to decide whether to turn right or left at the intersecting street, I inevitably chose the wrong direction. That was not a big problem in a city like Boise because there were lots of lots (parking) where I could turn around and head the right way. However, in places like Portland, where exits lead to different bridges, and towns, I did not even attempt driving.
     But I had one advantage--I learned to drive in Missoula. Big cities have more cars and they move faster, but none of them are laid out with street names that end and reappear at random intervals and directions like they do in my hometown. Missoula's traffic planners appear to have sent a rat through a maze with a marker tied to its tail and used that as a template. In some cities, streets are named for states, types of trees, even alphabetical. Names that fit together in some logical order. Notable exceptions to the logic method are Dallas where, whether from kindness or greed, streets are named in honor/memory of the rich and famous, and Atlanta where all downtown streets are named Peachtree, but differentiated by St, Ave, Blvd, Ln, Ct, Cir, etc. Your GPS cannot sort that out for you.
     I think GPS is one of the greatest inventions of my lifetime because it not only helps me find the right exit, but gives me plenty of warning before I get there, and then tells me which way to turn at the end. My favorite GPS function is "Recalculating" because even if I miss my turn, it finds me another way to get where I'm going. I wish life had a Recalculating option. Then when I did or said something stupid, a non-judgmental voice would tell me what to do to get back to where I need to be. Amazingly, God's will has, from human perspective, a recalculating function. God is not so unforgiving as to give us only one chance to get things right. He is always willing to help us find our way.