Detour

I can't believe this is happening again. (Big sigh) Well, I'm not going to do what I did the last time, that's for sure.

The last time had been right after our honeymoon in 1977. We had just picked up our gifts from my parents' house and were set to drive to Beaufort, SC. Three circumstances spelled doom for that day, but little did we know. First, I had never driven from Richmond to Beaufort. I didn't know the way. Second, I was driving David's car and he was driving mine because my hatchback was filled to the top with gifts and I couldn't see over or around them to drive it. Thirdly, I had never heard of overdrive, which David's new Volvo had.

I was following David, but we weren't even out of Richmond when we got separated and I went the wrong way. I was driving over the overpass when I saw my little bright blue Ford (with David at the wheel) heading straight down 95. I super-panicked and stepped on the gas. My plan was to turn around as soon as I could and go so fast that either I would catch up to David or be stopped by the police and they could radio ahead and stop David, too. Though I drove over 80 miles an hour for an hour, neither happened. I finally stopped at a roadside store, went in, and called my mom. She had probably just sat down with a cup of coffee, dusted her hands off and thought, There! Last chick out of the nest for good. It's Independence Day!

Unmotherly-like, she said, "I really don't know what you should do, Joy," and I was feeling ever so poorly when David suddenly walked in. I rushed into his arms, only to find that he was sort of standoffish. "It's a wonder I saw my car parked out there, Joy - you parked behind a van! Why were you driving so fast? I've been trying to catch up with you for almost an hour!" He bombarded me with harsher words than I had ever heard from his kind mouth, and I wondered if the man I was married to was the man I thought I had married. But my cries and explanations calmed him down, and we got back on the road.

I wish I could tell you everything went fine after that, but remember the overdrive thing? I had not put the car in overdrive while driving over 80, and long before we reached Beaufort, the Volvo's engine started smoking. We finally made it to Beaufort, but that car was never the same again.

Now back to June 20th of this year. My husband David and I were delivering furniture from my recently deceased dad's apartment to two of our children's homes. We had dropped off some things at Shelley's the night before, and the plan was simple: We would drive from her house in Apex, NC, to Pelham, AL, Heather's home. I would drive my car, leading the way for David, who would drive the U-Haul truck. I had made this journey by car many times, so I confidently started down the road, keeping a close watch in my rearview mirror.

About thirty minutes into our trip, my cellphone rang. It was Shelley with the bad news that David had left his suitcase at her house. So I pulled over to the side of the road and broke the baspel to David (gospel means "good news", so shouldn't baspel be an apt synonym for "bad news"?). We discussed whether he should go with me, burning up unnecessary amounts of fuel, wait there for me, in the middle of nowhere, either scorching or running the air conditioner (burning up unnecessary fuel) or just go on and I might eventually catch up with him. We chose plan C even though David does not own a cellphone (yes, it's true).

I called Shelley quickly and asked her about the number of the road where we were supposed to turn. I wanted to be sure we had it right. So, with my explanation that he would come to a turnoff for Highway 421 and that he should go either west or south on it, whichever the choice was, we parted.

I made the trip back to Shelley's in record time, picked up the wayward suitcase, and just as quickly got back to where I had left David. I drove on, feeling very happy because I wouldn't have to drive as slowly as I had to with the weighed-down U-Haul following me. When I came to the turnoff for 421, I obeyed myself and went south. After about thirty minutes, I began to feel that maybe I was on the wrong road. Though I was in the middle of nowhere and surrounded only by trees, grass and rolling hills, nothing seemed familiar. These particular tree/grass/hill scenes somehow looked strange. That's just silly, I told myself, and kept driving. Any minute now you'll come to the interstate. Well, any minute came and went and still no interstate, but I stubbornly refused to think that if a person is going from NC to AL he would take a 421N.

Thank goodness Hillary (another daughter) called. I asked her to look on the internet and find out where I was. Her husband did so while she tried to reassure me. You see, by that time, I was really worried that I had sent David the wrong way and he would never know. There's a long ending to this story, but I'm going to tell you the short one. We were supposed to go north on 421. It hit interstate 85 pretty soon. Yikes!

David, with his inborn sense of direction and common sense, thank the Lord, had figured out quite early on that he was headed due south and that interstate 85 moves southwest, so he turned around and went the right way. I had a GPS in my car and finally decided to use it to get back where I was supposed to be (there could be a spiritual lesson in that, but that's not the one for today!). David and I never crossed paths again. In fact, I skipped going to Pelham and came straight home to Opelika.

There's a spiritual lesson in this. God and I need to be in the same vehicle. That vehicle is his Word. Listen to some of the promises from Psalm 19 (NLT):
The instructions of the Lord are perfect,
reviving the soul.
The decrees of the Lord are trustworthy,
making wise the simple.
The commandments of the Lord are right,
bringing joy to the heart.
The commands of the Lord are clear,
giving insight for living.
The laws of the Lord are true;
each one is fair.
How can I know all the sins lurking in my heart?
Cleanse me from these hidden faults.
Keep your servant from deliberate sins!
Don't let them control me.
Then I will be free of guilt
And innocent of great sin.

When I try to follow God without being in his vehicle (his Word), I so often go the wrong way. Lord, I pray that I will not go so far on the wrong path that I never catch up with You again.