I'M LOST!

"Kathy, you've got to get to the $5 sale at the hospital!  They have jewelry, scarves, accessories all for one price," implored Patsy at her piano lesson.

So I obeyed my friend.  Snapped up some real bargains and gifts.  Then it happened.  As I left the hospital cafeteria I turned left down the long hallway.  I should have turned right. Our hospital is a series of tall buildings connected by curving hallways.  The complex stretches over several blocks.  (See below.) When I finally exited, I was on the backside and blocks away from my car in one of many parking lots.  I could see the tower but could not seem to get to it. Locked doors blocked me.  I spotted a guard in his security car and thought about asking him for help. 

I started at the far right building and wound up at the far left one.

This was not the first time I'd wandered around McCleod Hospital trying to find my Buick in the maize of parking lots.  A few years back a kind guard actually drove me around til we found it! This second time I eventually asked a sweet nurse for help with a simple admission, "I'm lost." She hit the keypad with secret numbers and the door opened!  Then she escorted me to the main lobby with a smile. I almost cried.

Usually I have a great sense of direction, especially driving.  But inside large buildings, even unfamiliar malls, I can get turned around and navigate backwards.  Ever come out of a store and forget if you were going left or right?  Me too.  One wrong turn and I'm lost!  It's a bad feeling.

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Even worse is being lost as a child.  It happened to me when I was about 8 years old in Sears and Roebuck in downtown Norfolk, VA.  One minute I was with my parents, the next. . .LOST! I found myself in a parking lot even back then searching for our family car. Yes, it was a Buick too.  Suddenly I spotted two familiar faces from our church.  They took me back into the store and found my folks.  I almost cried.

But the absolute worst experience was losing our daughter, Kimberly, maybe 5 or 6 years old at the N.C state fair! Talk about panic!  I did cry.  But that's another whole blog story.

Suffice it to say that my getting lost usually means humbly admitting it and asking someone for help. Men are teased about not asking for directions but it can be tough for anyone.  Moses might not have wandered for 40 years had he asked for directions!

God understands lost people.  His promise in Psalm 32:8 is one I cling to, "I will guide you along the best pathway for your life."

Lost?  Confused?  Uncertain?  Ask for help.  Even the Lone Ranger was not alone, Kimosabi!