darkness

Remember paper maps? Ah, the good old days, when we navigated ourselves from one place to another, like pioneers! I loved paging through the giant U.S. atlas we kept in our living room, imagining myself traveling unknown routes. I remember the first time I had to make use of that atlas on my own. I was living in Mankato, Minnesota (famous for being the place Pa Ingalls took his lumber in the Little House series). I was driving home to Rochester for the weekend, then to Eau Claire, Wisconsin (my alma mater) for a party one Saturday night. I had to drive straight back to Mankato after the party to be at church Sunday morning. For the visually minded - here's what it looked like: I had never driven from Eau Claire to Mankato, but I read in my trusty map that at the border, where I normally turned south to go to Rochester, I could continue straight on highway 60 all the way to Mankato and save time. (I was disproportionately proud of myself for discerning this. Like seriously, seriously proud). So, armed with this information, I set off in my Ford Festiva (read "glorified bumper car") at 9 pm after the party. In the dark. In a Wisconsin winter. Deer season. Brilliant. Sure enough, I had a near miss with a deer that left me a little shaken. Shortly after, I arrived at my fateful turn. I could turn left and take the longer, known route through Rochester, or I could follow what I'd seen on the map and plow ahead. I plowed. The first 10 miles of that road were a winding path through dark, snowy woods. No houses, no streetlights, no civilization at all. It didn't look anything like what I had expected. Within minutes, my mind began to run wild with thoughts like: What if this is the wrong road? Maybe I'm driving to Canada. This is going to take forever, and I'm going to fall asleep in the car, then crash. Or what if I hit ice and go off the road? There's no one here to help me. I'll die alone in my car. They'll find my body two weeks from now, gnawed by wolves (lots of potential death in these scenarios). What have I done?!? I doubted in the dark what I had seen in the light.  But every once in awhile, I drove past a sign that said, "Highway 60." I was on the right road, whether it seemed like it or not. I finally had to mentally grab hold of myself and say out loud, "Gina! You are ON highway 60! And the map said that if you stay on highway 60 you are getting to Mankato, so Just. Keep. Driving!" And sure enough, I made it to Mankato. I think of this story often when I navigate life. I can be so sure, when I spend time with God and his word, of what is true. I walk out confidently into the world,…