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My husband, Eric and I have lived on three different continents and in four
different states since we started dating seven years ago. We've had nine different
addresses between us in that time, and we have become pretty good at learning how
to get around new places. Our secret is the GPS app called Waze. We plug an
address into our phone, and we let it boss us around until we get to where we need
to be. We love exploring new towns and cities, and most of the time we don't mind
getting lost, but there is no way we could have lived in as many places as we have
without it!
Since I started working at OSLC, I have relied heavily both on Waze (and on
Trudy who kindly draws me maps and tells me how to get to where I need to go).
Because I don't actually live in the Sandhills, it has taken me longer to get my
bearings and get a sense of where things are. Other than those annoying times
when I miss a street, and Waze announces (over and over again) to "make the next
legal u-turn," I have been so thankful for this app on my phone, and I wonder how
people navigated new places without it.
What I most appreciate about Waze is that it announces, "You have arrived"
whenever I reach my destination. There have been two occasions recently when I
have heard Waze tell me that I'm finally where I'm supposed to be - only for me to
look up, down, and around the street wondering where in the world the place at
which I had "arrived" was hiding.
"You have arrived." There is something so satisfying and even comforting about knowing I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be - even if I'm not sure where I
am yet. I wish sometimes that we all had a Waze app for our trips to worship on Sunday morning each week. What it would mean for us to hear a little voice declaring to us as we pulled into our church parking lot: "You have arrived?"
You've made it through another week. You're here - exactly where you're supposed to be, exactly where God has promised that God will show up for us and speak to us. You have arrived to a community that - while it falls short all the time, just like all communities do - is a community that cares for each other.
You have arrived, and God's words of love and grace for you are waiting.
There are probably some Sundays where we all feel like we're looking up and
down the street wondering where in the world we're going. There are other
Sundays when we know exactly where we need to be: in worship with God and with
each other. No matter what kind of Sundays you experience, our hope and prayer is
that whenever you pull into our church parking lot, you hear God whisper to you,
"You have arrived."
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