A Step in the Right Direction

When I was a little girl, I always savored the drive home. We’d sit in the back of the minivan, a blanket on our laps, as dad wound his way through winter for the hundredth time. I loved his assuredness. Loved that we were ferried to-and-fro, safe and sound, in that snow globe of a New England town.

For all the poetry of those drives, a cold, black night in Maine is disorienting. I often wondered how Dad knew, with such certainty, which turns to take…when to touch the brakes….where to look for ice. Surrounded by flurries of white and towering pines, I decided that I wanted to memorize each movement, too. I wanted to be sure that if I found myself alone in darkness, I could steer through shadows.

I started closing my eyes and letting my whole body listen for the way. I would try to anticipate the moments that mattered, arranging them in my mind like breadcrumbs on a trail. There was the lift of the big hill. The smell of marshland mixed with early frost, followed by the sounds of traffic near the corner shop. The slowing down on a quiet, sleeping street, and the gentle thrum of car wheels crossing our threshold.

As I’ve aged, it hasn’t been as easy to find my bearings in the dark. 

In a world battered by crisis, it is tempting to live afraid…to stumble around in the night, haunted by the enormity of suffering.

And so, I continue to study the Way. I walk the familiar road home to Jesus over and over again until every fiber of my being believes: the sun may set, but the Son still reigns.

May we imprint His word on our hearts when times are good, so we remain encouraged when times are hard.

May we meditate on landmarks of His faithfulness, so we aren’t led astray by forgetfulness.

May we trust our Father completely, recognizing that He sits at the wheel as a steady and wise navigator. 

Psalm 119:105 reads: “Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light for my path.”

It is my prayer that this lamp would burn brightly in you and in me. Because when we emanate Jesus, we become beacons in the night helping the lost find their way home, too.

Amy Chapman

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Amy is a freelance writer, engaged
at Mission Community Church