Re-routed

Have you ever been cruising along your usual route home just to find that it is impassable? It can be incredibly frustrating to come upon a road block. I begin to envision all the things I wanted to do with my evening that will now have to be put aside or further delayed. One afternoon last week, this is just what happened to me. I was on my way to day care and came upon a road block to what was the only entrance. I began to envision my kids waiting there for mommy both impatient and hungry. As the stress of the situation began to creep in I realized there was another way. I proceeded through a used car lot and drove over a small field that led to the parking lot of the local day care. I had found a way to get around this difficult situation by finding another route. I was relieved to know that I could still get my kids safely home even though we would be a little later than usual.

The next morning I would find myself re-routed again. This time due to a fallen tree over the only road out of our neighborhood. As I began turning the car around to head back home, park rangers began steering vehicles to another road. I was amazed that this could be a possible way around the situation since it seemed to me that this road only led to a little beach and inevitably a dead-end. But I was wrong. Thankfully this road took us out and around the fallen tree and we were back on track for the day.

That morning I discovered that my grandmother had passed during the night. As I cried over this great loss I thought about all the things I still wanted to do with my grandmother. She had just moved to Colorado and I was so excited at the prospects of seeing her during my visits. I could imagine her new life in Colorado and all the happiness that would bring for her. I didn’t realize fully how much I had counted on this until she had died. As I lost myself deeply in thought that day, God spoke to me. He spoke to me through life’s obstacles. I realized

that my Grandmother had just been re-routed. Her physical body would be in Colorado but God had another way for her. It was time for her to come home. We all have our paths set in our minds based on our own needs and desires. It can be sad, frustrating and stressful when things don’t turn out as planned. I find comfort in knowing that life’s obstacles are God’s way of re-routing us. There’s always a way home it just may not be the way we envisioned it.