Which way do I go?

I recently bought a new phone. I love it!! It has the keypad with all the letters so I can actually text a message in a very short amount of time! I am so excited about that. The phone I had before was just a typical number pad with the three letters to each number. It would take me a very long time to figure out how many times to push each number to get the letter I wanted. It was exhausting. My messages, if any, were very brief. It was very frustrating to say the least. I wanted to send messages but finally just gave up. I would think of my children, nephews and especially my niece who could punch out a message in seconds. In fact my niece was one of the first people I sent a message to with my new phone, she was very proud of her cool aunt, who could now send a text with more than three words!

Technology is a wonderful thing. My phone even comes equipped with a GPS system. While Steve and I were talking about plans at the store of course the salesman was telling us about all the options that came with my phone and he mentioned the GPS system, of course it comes with an extra charge, but Steve said “why don’t you try it?” Well, I wasn’t going to let that pass by and I said okay.

You have to understand about me and my sense of direction, you see, I have none. Those who know me understand if we are going somewhere different that they have to spell directions out to me very specifically. I not only have difficulty with the major direction of north, south, east and west but more importantly I get confused with left and right. It is a good thing that I am married, because I often refer to my wedding rings for help in determining my left hand. I have also been told to hold up my thumb and forefinger to make the letter L with both hands. The hand that has the L going the right way is my left, good idea, but unfortunately they both look like L’s to me!! I also had trouble opening jars and turning light bulbs, (don’t laugh, I am not blonde!) I would be told turn them clockwise, well, that was a problem too because that depends on whether you are using your right or left hand to do these things. I learned a saying several years ago that has helped me tremendously.

Righty tighty

Lefty Loosey

Simple yet true and something I can remember!!!

Because I am directionally challenged, one of my biggest fears is to be lost. I think part of the reason is that I know that following directions is hard for me. I do better looking for landmarks than street signs! So when we opted for the GPS package on my phone I was very excited. I used it for the first time this past weekend. I actually figured out how to do it on my own!!!!

The first thing I realized is that you have to know where you want to go before you can enter the information in so the GPS can tell you how to get there. I had a light bulb moment on this after I got home. I was able to enter in the information of where to go because I knew the destination of where I wanted to go, but, what if you know you want to get somewhere but don’t know specifically where? I know it sounds a little like the AFLAC commercial but think about it. How can you get somewhere or try to reach a certain goal if you are not quite sure where you want to go or what you want?

I was pondering this and it was as if God was showing me that to have long term goals is great but you have to have specific short term goals to help you get where it is you want to go.

If you have a goal to lose weight and you stop there, discouragement soon builds up because you know what you want to do, you just don’t know how to get there. The same way about your relationship with Him, if you want to get closer and have a deeper relationship with Him you have to decide how and what you need to do to accomplish this. Are you going to dedicate time to spend with Him or to read His word, or join a bible study? What will you do to reach this goal?

Just as a GPS gives the final destination it also gives you the step by step directions on how to get there. You have a long term goal in your destination and short term goals in the step by step directions. The GPS even alerts you when you go off course, my says, “Recalculating”, then tells you to turn around or gives an alternate route that still leads to the desired destination. The Holy Spirit is our GPS; He wants to lead us to the ultimate destination of being molded into the image of Jesus. He is our Guide and also the One who helps redirect us when we go off course. Listen to His guidance and you will stay on course. And guess what? If you get off course, He will be the One to say “Recalculating” and will help you get back on the right road.