Lost

Have you ever felt lost?  Like uncertain of where you are going and what you're doing in life?  Perhaps you've been lost literally.  There's a store in Hawaii, Don Quijote, it's kind of like the "Japanese Walmart."  It has everything you could ever need.  It's a one-stop Asian mart, complete with bilingual signage and pricing.  The color scheme is a bright yellow and red.  It's kind of hard to miss.

Upon moving to Hawaii, I've experienced a bit of a pricing culture shock.  It took me a few Sunday papers to get acclimated to the idea of spending $5.99 on a gallon of milk (sale price).  Sure, Colorado is the land flowing with milk and honey, okay just milk.  By milk, I mean Greeley is literally surrounded by cows.  Great for the economy, maybe not so much for the aroma.  So, a gallon of milk on sale is $1.97.  As you can imagine, this did't settle well with my pocketbook nor my frugal ways.  So, my first trip to Don Quijote, wasn't exactly a bright and liberating experience.  The only thing bright about this experience was the sign.  After walking through the souvenir department and bypassing a commercial for a rice cooker in Japanese with English subtitles, I felt lost.  I felt like I'd made a mistake by going there in the first place.  As I scrambled to get through my shopping list, I couldn't help but think, what am I doing here.  I should stick to stores I know. I felt the enemy whisper malicious lies into my ear and like an echo, I verbalized them internally. Things like, I don't belong, and I should go back where I came from.

The week prior to this trip, Abi asked to take spam musubi to school for lunch.  She'd been taking sandwiches and lunchables but noticed that all the other kids had musubi.  She came home expressing an interest in taking musubi for her lunch like many of the other children.  I didn't want to discourage her, so we put spam musubi on the list.  So, here we are in the seaweed isle, looking at an array of dried seaweed packages in Japanese.  I felt lost.  Apparently, my feelings were conveyed through the look on my face and my body language because a very kind older Asian woman, asked me if I was in fact lost.  She said, "You look like you could use some help."  Really, I thought, 'it's that obvious huh?'  She went on to explain that it'd been years since she made musubi for her children but her grandchildren loved it. As she pointed me to the right package, I thought, 'it's just like God to send help especially when we're not expecting it.'  After I thanked her, I completed my trip and scurried over to the checkout.

Although this experience made me feel lost at first, I was reminded that even if I do not know the way, God is leading, guiding and directing my steps.  He has sent people along the path to encourage, help and befriend me.  I have to fight past the feelings and insecurities to walk in his freedom.  The same is true for us all, because God doesn't show favoritism. We know that He doesn't always show us a clear cut path or make situations comfortable for us, but He will place people in our path for a purpose.  Many times, we cannot understand the reasons why until the moment has passed.  Sometimes, it's to encourage us, sometimes it's to help us, sometimes it's to provide comfort, sometimes it's to correct us, sometimes it's to teach us, but the underlined reason is because God loves us.  Take time today to notice how God is watching out for you.  You may feel lost, but His overwhelming grace will help you find the way.  You may feel uncertain of what the future holds, but when you look to Him, you will find the peace that surpasses understanding.