Bill is an airplane buff. We have a standard joke when someone isn’t paying attention. “He’s got his head up and locked,” we say. The saying is taken from faulty landings where the retractable tires don’t come down to support the plane when it lands. It’s a malfunction that can, and usually does, cause a disaster.
This morning, friends from our church needed a ride to the doctor. The pastor usually hauls people around, but he had conflicting appointments. He would have asked Bill to take them, but Bill was out of town, so he asked me. He wanted to give me directions to their home on Pine St., but we had taken them home once and I knew where it was. Besides, years ago, I drove to Pine frequently because a woman in my Sunday School class lived there. But as I drove without coming to Pine, I realized something was wrong.
My friends were going to a drop-in clinic and didn’t have an actual appointment, so I didn’t panic. I decided to call the friend who used to live on Pine. She said I had to take a street with another name in order to get to Pine. I don’t know what else she might have been going to say, though, because I cut her off, saying, “Oh yes, I have a perfect picture of it in my mind, thanks, goodbye.” So I went back up the road looking for the street she mentioned. I saw the street I remembered, but the name was different. I turned anyway and then turned again. Nope it wasn’t Pine. I knew though that I was within inches. I asked a workman that looked sort of like my grandson, and he was kind enough to look it up on his GPS. He showed me that I had turned one block too soon.
Finally, we made it to the doctor. And what did I learn from the experience? I learned that I have a bad habit of knowing I know things when I don’t know at all. I’m praying that Jesus the Christ, Jesus the Way, the TRUTH and the Life, will wipe out all the thoughts that I think are right and show me His way. One of my most fervent prayers is that He will continue to remind me that in order to know I must not assume that I know, I must ask. I think today will be a great reminder and although I’m not proud of myself, I thank Him for it.
Old Things R New 
Wow, amazing story and hugely insightful post – thanks for sharing.
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A good reminder for all of us.
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I have done that in so many different ways, myself. I attribute it not to a poor memory, but to the Change War – time-travellers are changing the way the world is set up. Blame them.
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You had your head up and locked my dear. LOL
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It is amazing how easily we can get lost – even in the familiar. Even in a good Christian lifestyle, it’s not that difficult to make a wrong turn. The secret is to know when you need to make that turn back, the sooner the better. Jesus is always there to guide you.
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Right you are, Bob! DiVoran
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How refreshing to know that you, too make mistakes. If I get off of the “beaten path” I’m in trouble.
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I call those failings “adventures”
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Thanks for your kind comment, Louise. It’s so good to know someone is reading the blogs.
Love, DiVoran
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