Watchin' the wheels go 'round

My mind is just so active and busy with worries, thoughts, to-do lists, etc. that lately it has become difficult to relax.  I like to be in control of things--to know what lies ahead so I can plan-- but we all know that life is full of surprises, good and bad.  Two years ago I was taking some children to an emergency shelter.  When I called to make arrangements, the lady at the shelter told me, "Hey, there's construction and Woodlawn is closed, so you're going to turn right on St. Cloud, then turn left on Huisache and take the second entrance into the shelter."  Note, I didn't remember everything, nor did I write it down.  I have a GPS, so I thought to myself that I could disregard her instructions and follow the GPS because after all, the GPS won't get me lost.  I took the kids to get something to eat because it was dinnertime after their parent/child visit and one of the girls had a birthday and their mom didn't even give her a handmade card or get them anything to eat or drink.   By the time we got out of the eatery, it was pouring outside.  So I'm driving these four adorable kids in the pouring rain and can't see because the rain is falling so hard my windshield wipers can't keep up.  I see the detour sign, look at my GPS and I remembered the lady at the shelter saying to turn on St. Cloud.  Well, I didn't get the other street name and followed the detour, twice coming back to where the shelter was.  The GPS told me I was in the right place, but what I didn't realize was that the entrance I went in was the front one, which was now a construction entrance and my car got stuck in the mud.  She had been telling me to go to the one in the back that was not affected by all this mess.  I tried to get the car out, but my wheels kept spinning to no avail.  I called the gal at the shelter and told her we were in the front of the shelter, stuck in the mud.  She said, "You didn't listen to my instructions!" and proceeded to instruct me where to go.  Mea culpa.  Mea maxima culpa.  I should have listened to her.  I tried multiple times again to get us out of the muck.  The kids prayed ("Dear Jesus, PLEASE help Miss Chris get the car out of the mud") and I drove out at an angle, steadily hit the gas and finally got the car out.  My successful escape was punctuated by four loudly cheering children ("Thank you Jesus!") and a round of applause.  I promptly followed the lady's instructions and made it to the correct entrance.  Sometimes we are so presumptuous that we fail to listen to those who have the knowledge and experience and instead we blindly follow our own directions and wind up in the wrong place, spinning our wheels.  It is at that point that we need to lose our pride and say "Help me.  I'm lost."  We can't always do it alone and we should never be afraid to ask for guidance, be it from another person or God.