"Take exit, Now." The voice was calm. Just barely mechanical. It spoke with authority. "Which one?" My voice was not so mechanical. "Take exit now." The voice doesn't reply. It dictates. I don't DO dictatorships. "re calibrating" Is there just a bit o annoyance in the mechanical voice, I wonder? "Turn around, and take exit now" "OK. Sorry I missed it" Did I just apologize to plastic and electonics' components? "Turn around, and take exit, now" The mechanical voice droned. "I'm waiting for a clearing!!!" My voice screeched. "Turn around and take exit, now." Somehow the calmness of the mechanical voice is annoying. "I'm TRYING!!!!!!!" I say, exasperated. This isn't a scene from 2001 a Space Odyssey. It was a scene from my car, this weekend. The slightly mechanicla voice wasn't "Hal" it was my husband's "Tom-Tom" His turn by turn GPS based elecrontic "helper" and the straw that almost broke my sanity's back. It was supposed to have helped me navigate my way trouble free to a training session I had this weekend a couple of hours from home. Eventually it did. But not until after a few one sided arguments. (FYI... it doesn't talk WITH you, it talks TO you;) This was another adventure in recognizing my total inability to simply FOLLOW Directions. I tend to analyze and over think EVERYTHING. If the Tom Tom said "Take exit" I wondered how I was supposed to know if it was the correct exit. I the Tom Tom said "Turn around" I argued that traffic was making it impossible to do. The whole 2 hour drive there was stressful. Me, with absolutely no directional sense, trying to second guess the GPS. I had a headache by the time I arrived. By Sunday Morning, I was getting a pre-emptive headache in preparation for the drive home. That's when I had an idea. As an experiment, I will not THINK on the way home. (I would, however, pay attention to dirving) I will simply follow the devices directions. Voila. No problem's, no headache. Ocassionally, my faith walk with God looks like a similar scene. "Tracey, turn left now" (Ok, so God doesn't typically give me directions that are that clear... but we get the jist) "I don't think you have the right person." I argue. "Tracey, turn left now" The voice is patient, but firm "I can't get where I'm going that way" Mine isn't so patient, but it's equally firm. "Turn left now" About now- If I were driving, and God were a simple Tom Tom, He'd have to re-calibrate, and devise a new route, because I'd have missed my exit. Fortunately, God is not a Tom Tom. But- I have to wonder.... what if I realized that arguing with God was just as ridiculous? What if I simply obeyed???? Maybe, I'd have fewer headaches. ;) Dear Lord- thank you for being so patient with me. Thank you for leading and directing me, even though I often argue about your planned route. I pray that you'd help me to continue to grow in faith, so that I can be quick to obey. I love you, Lord amen. 
