Where are we going?

Last week my husband and I set off on an adventure of a lifetime (okay, so my life is boring, normally). We were going to meet a friend I had met over the internet (gasp, thats how DH and I met too) on a Christian site about raising Godly children. We had never met in real life, but our bond as sisters in Christ had grown over the months, and we decided to meet! On Thursday before leaving we noticed a tire going flat., $115.32 later it was replaced. Late last Thursday we packed up the car and drove the long distance to Chicago. DH said it would take four hours. Usually he knows where he's going..so I trusted that in FOUR hours we would hit our hotel room, and I could fall in bed and go to sleep. I have an allergy issue, and the medicine I took was stronger than I though. 20 minutes after leaving, I fell fast asleep. 3 hours later I woke up. I said Hey..we should almost be there.

Ahem...well we were sort of. We DID arrive in Chicago safely. Finding the hotel room..not so easy. We stopped and asked for directions from a nice police man (who told us our tire on the other side of the car was going flat). He was wrong about the tire, AND the directions. He sent us 30 min the wrong direction. An half an hour later we asked yet another policeman for directions. He too sent us on a wild goose chase. I was beginning to think this was a game they play with lost people from Michigan. They must have been radioing each other laughing at these poor people from Michigan. We finally stopped at another hotel (a competition to the one we were going to LOL) and would you believe they told us just how to get there? Finally we were able to crash in our bed, at close to 4:00 in the morning. Three hours later, we were awakened by a hotel front desk monster who told us there was a billing issue. Bleary eyed and tired but excited we met our friend at 11:30 in the morning at the hotel. Off we went to find our previously picked out lunch place BUBBA GUMPS. It was located in Navy Pier. It took a bit of work, but we found that too. After a delicious lunch enjoyed by three adults and three kids (her two and our Lily), we were off again. We walked around Navy Pier first, and then decided to head off to the zoo. We asked directions yet again (anyone notice a pattern here?)..and headed off to find a trolley to take us to a bus to take us to yet another bus to take us to the zoo. Saving you from the boring sit and wait ride and wait details...we finally found a nice young guy on a bus who told us (or my friends little boy Quenten that is) that he was headed to meet his wife. He told us when exactly to get off. He'd been there before, and told us to have a wonderful time. What a God send he was. We might have been riding the bus all day! We were never so happy to get to the zoo...and never so sad to see it closed in 30 minutes.
What we saw was wonderful, mind you, but I missed the giraffes, my favorites.

We truly truly enjoyed our time there, and our time with our friend...but our travels did make me think...

In this world we will receive MANY directions, from MANY sources. Everyone thinks they know HOW you should get there, what you should do, and where you should go. They all have "maps" to shove at us, books to read, advice to give, etc. If we listened to all of them, we would be wandering around in search of the right answer forever. We would miss the beauty of what we set out to see to begin with all because we were too busy searching, wandering, and hoping the next person knows.

The secret? Ask the one who KNOWS. Ask the one, that built each path, and walked before us. Ask the one, who knows where we have already been, where we want to be, and most importantly where we NEED to be. He knows where we will end up, and each step we will take. He knew long before we ever took our first breath. He even gave us a map. Its His Holy Word the Bible. It tells us the how to and the where to' and the how to. He doesn't give it to us, and then leave us to wander hoping we understand..oh no. For if we TRULY trust Him, and we put our hand in HIS...He will take us there Himself. He'll tell us when we are done. He knows where our "zoo' is. And when we reach our final destination...the place we have traveled so long to get to, I can guarantee, we won't see a sign that says closes in 30 minutes. Oh now. we can stay forever!

Someday I want to go back to Chicago. I want to see the zebras and the giraffes. But even more so then that...I long for the day, when I have reached the final stop, and the Lord is waiting. Heaven...oh I can't wait. I wonder if heaven has giraffes?


p.s Hey Nex!!!! To the LEFT next time.