Maps

Daily Gratitude Year 6- Day 104: Today, I am grateful for maps.

Don't laugh. I love an old fashioned paper map. The kind pirates used to find buried treasure and a good old road atlas. GPS is wonderful (when it works) and it is more current than many road maps. Still, there is an art and an quaintness to pulling out a paper map and creating a route for travel. 

I used to love to check of the towns as we passed. The little ones, too. They were a sign we were making progress on our route to whatever destination.

Just this year, I offered to draw a student a map to the library, where his parent was going to pick him up after school, but he had never used a paper map. Many children today have never traveled without an entertainment device. They play with parent's phones on short trips. They watch videos on long ones. They have no idea how to get anywhere when it is time to drive. If you children are the exception, congratulations and be sure to compliment them. 

Today, I use GPS as much as the next person. I fight the urge... and sometimes lose... to have my phone out when I am not driving. The temptation is real. How much do we miss because we simply are not looking at what is going by out the window? 

One trip to Florida when the kids were little, our nephew, Rob, made a treasure map for the kids to follow. They were pumped about the adventure and had a great time. He even aged it, to make it seem more genuine. They made great memories that day with far away cousins. Learning to follow a map can be fun... and it is educational. It is an ancient art that is slipping away. 

There are times in life, we all need a map to follow. It helps if we know how to read it. 

The scripture that keeps coming to mind as I write today is this:

"Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me." -John 14:16

Jesus is the way... the truth and the life. Following his way and his wisdom will lead us to truth and give us full life. He said, "Follow me". His ways are higher than ours. His truth is bigger than our understanding. His life isn't just for the moment... it is forever. 

His Word and The Way are bound between the pages of our Bibles. We only need to open them to discover His goodness and grace. Enough guidance for a lifetime. He will lead us home.  

Today, I am grateful for maps.