Let me interrupt the string of "unpacking" posts from our trip with a little nugget of my day yesterday. Over the past few months, we have made a number of trips to immigration since you cannot get the kind of visa we have all in one chunk. Yesterday we were to make our final trip to immigration for the last big chunk before our visa change. We left home at 10, and since I was meeting someone afterward, P.J. and I drove separately. I hit numerous "bumps" along the way that already had my nerves ratcheted up a few notches. We sat in traffic at one junction for what seemed like ages before I told him, "Tell me how to get there, and you go on ahead so you can get in line." I had driven there before, and the directions seemed simple enough so he went on. We sat in the jam for almost 30 more minutes after he left, but we got moving.
Then it happened: one wrong turn. Just one little wrong turn. Normally, you can just turn around and correct something like that, but for some crazy reason, I never got back on track. I asked probably 8 different people to point me in the right direction, and not a single one seemed to have sent me the right way. I drove in circles all over creation for 2 solid hours. There were moments of tears, panic, begging for a sign to know where I should go, and just saying, "I can't do this." Honestly, I have never felt so helpless, inadequate, and downright stupid in all of my life. My lovely children were sitting in the back quiet as little mice, which made the situation more bearable. Have you ever just had one of those moments when you just realize, "No matter what you think, you're really not in control." Any one of those people could have pointed me in the right direction, and yet none of them did.
By the time I found something I knew, 2 more hours of driving had passed for a total of over 2 and half hours trying to get to a place that should have taken less than 30 minutes. I called to tell P.J. where I was as he was just going to have to come find me, and over my apologetic tears, he said, "Don't worry. It's done. I got the visas, and that's done." Seriously?! I missed the whole process, and yet it still worked out. The funny thing is our little girl was so annoyed in the morning at having to go to immigration again that she was overjoyed when she realized we had done it all without ever getting there!
This whole thing got me thinking about the thousands and thousands of people around me--even around you--whose lives are like that everyday. There are over 2 billion people searching for the right way, and most of them currently have no chance of finding a person who can actually point them in the right direction. My heart's prayer is that they would not spend their lives going around in circles, but that they would have opportunities to meet the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
Then it happened: one wrong turn. Just one little wrong turn. Normally, you can just turn around and correct something like that, but for some crazy reason, I never got back on track. I asked probably 8 different people to point me in the right direction, and not a single one seemed to have sent me the right way. I drove in circles all over creation for 2 solid hours. There were moments of tears, panic, begging for a sign to know where I should go, and just saying, "I can't do this." Honestly, I have never felt so helpless, inadequate, and downright stupid in all of my life. My lovely children were sitting in the back quiet as little mice, which made the situation more bearable. Have you ever just had one of those moments when you just realize, "No matter what you think, you're really not in control." Any one of those people could have pointed me in the right direction, and yet none of them did.
By the time I found something I knew, 2 more hours of driving had passed for a total of over 2 and half hours trying to get to a place that should have taken less than 30 minutes. I called to tell P.J. where I was as he was just going to have to come find me, and over my apologetic tears, he said, "Don't worry. It's done. I got the visas, and that's done." Seriously?! I missed the whole process, and yet it still worked out. The funny thing is our little girl was so annoyed in the morning at having to go to immigration again that she was overjoyed when she realized we had done it all without ever getting there!
This whole thing got me thinking about the thousands and thousands of people around me--even around you--whose lives are like that everyday. There are over 2 billion people searching for the right way, and most of them currently have no chance of finding a person who can actually point them in the right direction. My heart's prayer is that they would not spend their lives going around in circles, but that they would have opportunities to meet the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
No comments:
Post a Comment