Detour

When I was a little girl my family took a trip to the beach.  Somewhere around Birmingham, Alabama our mini van broke down.

Long story short, we had to wait around in Birmingham to get the van fixed.  We soon found out we couldn't get it fixed right away, so we rented a van from the airport.  This was where my mom got a citation from a big, scary cop because she parked in a no parking zone.  But it was all fine.  Because this mini van had really cool automatic doors.

A few hours down the southbound highway we drove headlong into a traffic jam.  My memory tells me we were in stand still traffic for about four hours.  Literally.  Stand still.

There had been a chemical spill earlier that day.

People had been jammed-up in traffic for hours.

It didn't take us long to realize, had we not had minor car trouble, we would have been right in the middle of the chemical spill that day.  We would have been part of the chaos.

There's also this really crazy detour around Knoxville sometimes.  That takes you in a wide loop around the city to avoid the demolition on the highway.  You are directed around the mess, instead of straight through it; navigated away from the wreck, the rubble, the catastrophe ahead.

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So here I am.  Divulging a little secret.

I'm on a detour.

I was on the long stretch of highway and I had to get off route for a little while, because there was a big, big mess ahead.

A big mess I was driving straight into.  Part of the road had fallen off.  Or there had been a landslide.  Or they were building a new bridge.

Either way I was told to make a turn.  Navigate a new route.  Around the mess.  Above the mess.  Instead of through it.

And here I am... about to merge back onto the highway.  Having avoided catastrophe.  Having learned something about myself.  Having changed my vision and circumstances.  It seems serendipitous almost.

This is me.  Processing my shame and my pride.  This is me.  So tired and overwhelmed.  This is me, with a rejuvenated desire to invest.  To pour myself out.  To be faithful.

This detour has stretched me.  This detour has broken me.  This detour has made me grow.

My calling is the same, whatever highway I take.  This time I just had to leave the course to avoid a mess.  I had to throw off some things, which were hindering my growth.  I had to meet some new people.  And learn some new truth.

To know, had I chosen to, I could have done this has been so good for my soul.

To know that God is pleased with me, regardless, is the truth I need to lean against.