Feeling lost? Try checking the map
"If you don't use it, you lose it." That's what I told myself as I licked the wounds of my damaged pride. Friends of mine were heading off to Oregon and they mentioned how they were looking forward to the beach, rhythmic waves rolling over sand.
In thinking that Oregon was a mid-western state, I was puzzled at how all that sand made its way into the center of the map. So I ask outright if it's like the beach in Chicago. The conversation lulls in a state of confusion until my husband realizes my position of misunderstanding. He jumps in to reorient me to the true geography, and I am left there wondering how I missed it completely.
I'm certain that I was required to label states in a classroom. Being a fairly good student, I probably even got them all correct, including Oregon. What seems like a lifetime has passed since then, and I am pondering the lapse in knowing. I marvel at my ability to forget.
And the path of my life is one big test in geography. I am faced with daily decisions that either bring me closer to home or move me into the fields of the lost. I sometimes know exactly where I'm headed. I move in the groove of habits that have been faithful in their leading.
But there are situations I am faced with that catch me off guard. They have me thinking I'm doing okay in the middle of the states when, in reality, I should be rushing into the waters of the west coast.
I falter. I forget. I lose the way.
I tell myself we all get lost. We all have our misplaced Oregon, and there are times when we all need to be reoriented to the truth.
I open the Book. I underline. I memorize. I study my way into the groove of remembering.
In thinking that Oregon was a mid-western state, I was puzzled at how all that sand made its way into the center of the map. So I ask outright if it's like the beach in Chicago. The conversation lulls in a state of confusion until my husband realizes my position of misunderstanding. He jumps in to reorient me to the true geography, and I am left there wondering how I missed it completely.
I'm certain that I was required to label states in a classroom. Being a fairly good student, I probably even got them all correct, including Oregon. What seems like a lifetime has passed since then, and I am pondering the lapse in knowing. I marvel at my ability to forget.
And the path of my life is one big test in geography. I am faced with daily decisions that either bring me closer to home or move me into the fields of the lost. I sometimes know exactly where I'm headed. I move in the groove of habits that have been faithful in their leading.
But there are situations I am faced with that catch me off guard. They have me thinking I'm doing okay in the middle of the states when, in reality, I should be rushing into the waters of the west coast.
I falter. I forget. I lose the way.
I tell myself we all get lost. We all have our misplaced Oregon, and there are times when we all need to be reoriented to the truth.
I open the Book. I underline. I memorize. I study my way into the groove of remembering.
Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path. Psalm 119:105 (NIV)
Love this, Ginger! First off, you are VERY hard on yourself. But secondly, I love how this geographical lapse was used for something much more important, and beautifully expressed.
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