what a clever metaphor...

have you ever hopped in the car, stuck the key in the ignition, turned on the music, pulled out of the driveway and then arrived at your destination not realizing how you got there? not realizing you have been driving for 20 minutes on autopilot.  you obeyed all the rules: looked before you merged, stopped at all the stop signs, gave pedestrians the right of way, etc...it's the weirdest feeling, like you were in some sort of daze, which, probably isn't the safest thing to be caught doing, but it happens.  

sometimes i feel like i get in this same trance with life.  that is an even stranger feeling.  

i'll end up some place wondering: how in the heck did it get here?

i obeyed all the rules, drove through the green lights, stopped on the red lights, and sped up for yellow lights.

but somehow i wasn't even thinking about what i was doing.

it's scary.

how did i get here?

not just here to hawaii...that's obvious, i flew.

but what in my life led me to being here?

my grades weren't anything amazing, i finished high school with a 3.5 and a 25 on the ACT? not too shabby.

but seriously? what landed me here?

just like in driving: i took drivers ed, practiced, passed the test, drove safely and arrived at my destination.

in my patriarchal blessing it tells me to ask myself "where will it lead?"

and a lot of the time i feel like saying, 

"how the heck am i suppose to know where it will lead?! I'm just going with the flow."

but most of the time we can't just go with the flow.  we have to slam on our brakes, realize we took a wrong turn and get back on the right path.

 if we feel lost, we can call our mom who tells us what exit to get off at, we pull up mapquest on our iphone, or we stop at a gas station and ask for directions.

in life we have been given everything we need in order to arrive at our destination safely, if we will just follow the rules, ask for directions, and  pull out "mapquest".

my friend courtney and I were just talking about how crazy life is and how you never can predict what is going to happen.

where will i be in two years? five years? even next year?

it's a strange thought.

there will probably be a few detours, some scenic routes, the occasional flat tire, a broken windshield, an empty gas tank, and some speed bumps, but not matter what, i know my destination.
 i'll get there and realize the ride was worth it.

"trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not unto thine own understanding...in all thy ways acknowledge him and he shall direct thy paths."

proverbs 3:5-6