Under Construction

Starting Monday, the bridge right by our house is going to be closed. Construction will begin to take out the lights, and insert the roundabout (they sure love these here in Wisconsin). I'm still quite leery how the roundabout is going to better this particular intersection as it's one of the more heavily trafficked with people coming on and off the highway, the frontage road with Target, Starbucks, Applebee's, Red Robin, etc.... I mean I envision roundabout backup/collisions! But I am not a city planner or expert, so I will endure the construction and mess and wait and see what comes of it.

All of this made me think of how God works in my life. Sometimes it seems like God is undergoing some "construction" in my life. And when it begins and I become quite leery of how it's really going to benefit me. I envision all the problems or pains this "construction" is bringing to my life and how it will never end (as it seems like most construction projects never do).

But as I said above, I am not the expert --- God is. And God knows me better than I know myself. So if God is the expert and has my best interest in mind, then I can trust that whatever "construction" he wants to do in me is for my good and therefore I can endure it.

Navigation Voices

Having a GPS system is pretty revolutionary. It really does help you along your journey. You can of course always do MapQuest. But the point being - we really all need a little help navigating when on a journey.

What I've enjoyed about our GPS is picking the voice which will be talking us through our journey. I feel like this was an important decision. I didn't want an annoying voice. It obviously couldn't be a foreign language - that just wouldn't be helpful at all. So I picked this gal who must be British or something because when we are in a big city like Minneapolis she will say -- "exit right onto the motorway." Motorway? Who calls it that? I kinda like it! I wish I could remember her name - let's call her Beatrice.

Many times I've thought ---- isn't Beatrice so patient with me. Whenever I make a wrong turn, or several wrong turns. She just simply keeps telling me -- "when possible, please turn around." Often though, I wonder, if I were Beatrice would I be so patient? I hear myself saying to Josh (yes, confession time friends) --- "What are you doing?" What if my GPS system were to say things like --- "What are you thinking?! I told you to make a right turn in 200 yards? What possibly did you not understand?" I'm assuming that the GPS sales would go down drastically if that was what they programmed their devices to say.

All this transferred over to make me think of the other journeys I'm on.

1. Relationally. Am I patient in my relationships? We all make mistakes. Even if we did hear someone ask us a simple request, we may still miss our turn. Sometimes we just need a gentle - "please turn around when possible." So will I be gentle? I would definitely appreciate others being gentle and patient with me.


2. Emotionally. How am I speaking to myself in my brain? May sound weird to you - but it makes perfect sense to me. Is your "GPS Navigation System" in your brain kind to yourself or are you constantly berating yourself? Just as in our relationship with others, we also need to be gentle and patient in our relationship with our self in order to be emotionally healthy.


3. Spiritually. What do you think of when you think of God? Someone saying "What are you doing?" or do you think of a gentle, patient voice that wants to guide you on your journey.

On A Journey

All of us are on a journey. To some, it seems like day in and day out it is the same mundane routines. Wake up, take shower, get dressed, brush teeth...walk out the door. Others are more aware of circumstances, people around them, influencing their day to day --- all impacting their journey. Where do you fall? Aware? Unaware? Somewhere in between? This blog's aim is open our awareness of the journey we are all on - leaving impressions on our relationships, our emotional health and how we view spirituality. I hope you enjoy.