The New Woman In My Life

I don't normally do a sequel the night after the prequel but this is an exception. I also don't usually do titles just to get attention but there is a point to it, too! My devotional last night was how my old GPS unraveled on my trip back from Thanksgiving with relatives in Kansas less than 36 hours before. I also mentioned that I had a new GPS waiting in the wings. Interestingly enough, both navigational devices I've owned come via my brother's family. The first, a used Magellan, came from Scott about five years ago after they purchased a new one. My new one came yesterday from the USPS and AMAZON. During our week-long break, a parent of one of my students very unexpectedly sent me a $100 gift card and Scott's wife, Karen, ordered a GARMIN NUVI 55 LM for me because it's just one more skill I have yet to master, or even attempt. Life for me was about to change.

This afternoon, I got out of my normal Sunday routine and tried out my new gadget. Making the excuse that I needed to take a pair of khaki pants back to Jos A Bank and spend a $10 gift card from the nice folks at Palais Royal, I drove to Meyerland Plaza simply so I could take the Garmin on its maiden voyage. I found it is incredibly easy to use and for me to say that carries a tremendous amount of weight because NOTHING technical is easy for me. Here some things I love about it. The woman's voice is very reassuring. (I read in one online review last week that a wife got angry at the sexy voice on her husband's GPS and would call her a very vulgar name!) I like that the Garmin announces the street names when you turn. And I especially love that my new lady friend does not blurt out the two words which became very irritating for me with the Magellan when I turned on a different street: ''CALCULATING ROUTE.'' Amazing what irritates us, isn't it?

As I drove to Meyerland Plaza, I tested the Garmin early in the trip repeatedly by taking turns that were not what was called for. Each time, it, or should I say she, calmly made adjustments. And when I just backed off and let her lead me, she took me on a path that was much quicker than the way I've made that trip for eighteen years! And one more thing I like: I can simply push HOME and her voice guides me back to my apartment without having to enter and numbers or letters. As I think back on my life, I remember Dad preaching a sermon on the providence of God and he talked about the option of three places he and mom could have taken when we moved to Nebraska from Brooklyn when I was four. Dad made the point that after prayer, they felt good about the choice BUT that it was his belief the Lord would have worked with whatever town they picked and our resulting lives would still have been blessed. That thought has always stuck with me and I was reminded of it today, even as I tested the GARMIN. And as I pulled into the Braesridge Apartments, I could almost hear a woman's voice singing one of my favorite hymns, Lead Me Gently Home, Father. Well, almost.

Applicable quote of the day:

True navigation begins in the human heart. It's the most important map of all.

Elizabeth Kapu'uwailani Lindsey

God bless,
Steve
Luke 18:1
www.hawleybooks.com
E-mail me at steve@hawleybooks.com