TAKING THE LONG WAY

Men might not understand but women will. I am tired of our dishes. I did like them when I bought them probably 15 years ago, but they say farm fresh and we no longer live on the farm. They also have apples and, well, I just am ready for some new dishes.

I looked and I looked. I knew I wanted Corning Ware so I checked every pattern they had. Then there it was! Just what I was looking for so I began watching their sales. Would they put that design on sale? Could I get a really good buy?

I am a Wal-Mart shopper only when I can not find something locally, but I went online and there were my dishes. And for less than I could get them from Corning Ware. Even with a 20% off coupon! I ordered the dishes September 14.

It has been fun tracking my dishes. I am not exactly sure where they began, but they arrived in Greencastle, Indiana on the 18th. They left Greencastle on the 19th. They arrived in Coldwater, Michigan on the 20th and they left there on the 21st. Hopefully the next stop will be Wabash, Indiana.

Just for fun, get out a map. Find Greencastle, Indiana. Now go north into Michigan to Coldwater. Now come back south into Indiana to Wabash. My dishes have had quite a journey!

Now, get out another map. A map of your journey with God. What would your journey be like? Would it be a straight line from your birth to God? Or did your journey begin later in life? Has your journey been by the most direct route? Or, at times, has your journey taken you right past your destination?

SCRIPTURE: Please read Psalm 139

Psalm 139:8-10 -- If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.

This is my favorite Psalm. I have not always known where my dishes were, but it reminds me that God always knows where I am. God knows where you are. God knows because God holds fast to each of us with His right hand!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now you want to know a secret? God loves you when you take the most direct route to be with Him, but God loves you even when your journey to Him takes the long way home.

ACTIVITY OF THE DAY

Yes, there is usually a question but today there is an activity. Get a piece of paper. Write GOD at the top. Write your name at the bottom. Now track your journey. Be honest and mark those side trips that you wish you hadn't taken. But be thrilled to mark the times when you stayed strong, with your destination fixed in your heart.

LET US PRAY (Please use this as a beginning of your prayer. Finish in your own words, words from your heart.)

I can see you smiling, God. You have been tracking me since the day I was born. If my journey was marked by push pins and yarn, it would look like a jumbled mess. It would look like I did not know where I was going. My God, even when my journey took me in the opposite direction, in my heart, in my soul I knew my journey would lead me to you. Thank you for tracking me. Thank you for knowing where I am when I feel lost. Thank you for holding me fast in your right hand. Amen