Never Alone

It’s amazing – really unimaginable what control our hand-held devices hold on us! Since we eliminated landlines, I like to keep my means of communication close at hand, but I have the bad habit of laying the device down and then having to search for it.

However, I always locate and carry my phone with me when traveling, especially if I’m driving and alone. Since my brain’s navigation system wasn’t totally perfected before my birth, my sense of direction is off-target – way off. If my husband, Othel, is with me I depend on his highly skilled sense of direction. When alone, my phone with its maps app is my only hope for reaching my destination.

This week I had an eye appointment near downtown Jackson. Othel couldn’t go so I courageously entered my destination address and turned up my navigator’s volume. I know my way out of the driveway and onto the interstate, but I like to test her for accuracy!

She led me to my exact location, but all the parking spaces were full. An arrow pointed to the multi-level parking garage. I turned in, but all ground levels were full. I proceeded to the second level, which was given a letter name. I finally pulled into a vacant space as a feeling of accomplishment swept over me. I hadn’t gotten lost.

An elevator dropped me off on a crosswalk to a directory pointing me to the third floor. Another elevator and a winding corridor carried me to my appointment location. Little did I know – I should have been dropping bread crumbs!

The check-up ran smoothly, and I exited into the corridor. Right or left? I paused to look for exit signs. Located! Headed toward the elevator, but I somehow was in a different one. Was it B, C, or D where my car waited? I chided myself for neglecting to make mental notes as I gripped my phone tighter than my purse and began my search. The familiar car tag on the cream color SUV was hiding. Maybe the next level. I began the incline. Again, no familiar click as I hit the unlock button – repeatedly.

I paused close to the inside wall and squatted low to search for my vehicle on the next level, grateful that no one else was strolling. The horn! It had saved me in large parking lots before. I pressed the emblem and in the distance, it answered. Before I could rejoice, a second horn honked in another direction. There was another direction-deficient seeker like me!

We passed each other on level D where I had just spotted the resplendent tail lights of my car. “I forgot where I parked,” the disoriented man said as we met.

“Me too,” I said, hoping to administer comfort. I breathed a thanksgiving prayer, turned on my map app, and cranked the car. Finding home would be easy; I had the map!

Spiritual applications: We have the map! The path is narrow, but it leads to Home.

Gracious Guide, How I praise You for your watch care and protection. Knowing I am NEVER alone is my greatest consolation in parking garages . . . and in every other place life takes me. Amen

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

• Camille Anding is a child of God since age 12.
• Wife of 53 years to Othel; mother to Tahya and Eli;l grandmother to seven grandchildren and two great-grands.
• Retired from photography business with Othel. Now carry cameras on their travel adventures.
• Freelance writer, regular contributor to Hometown magazines, and dedicated to living “my utmost for His highest.”