That's Just The Way It Is...

We should have seen it coming. Especially since there were four of us in the car - two blondes, one brunette, and one redhead. That combination could only mean one thing: confusion. UTTER confusion!

But let me backtrack and explain...

It was a dark and stormy night.

Well, it wasn't too terribly dark out, but there were a few rain drops! Actually it all began when I walked into the Chapel at 6:55 and noted that I was the only one in a skirt. That's a good thing since the rest of the people in the room were guys:o). As I braved the table surrounded by guys, I snatched up a map and headed for a seat, hoping that the last minute rush would include some girls! Thankfully three more girls joined me, so we decided to match up another map with the map I had in my hand so we could all drive together. As the brunette went to go talk with Bro. Reeder about directions, I stayed behind and chatted with the redhead. Soon we were prepared and ready to go. With the question of who would drive out of the way, we headed to the parking lot and prayed for receptivity in the hearts of the people.

I should pause and insert a piece of vital information here: I didn't pray for safety on the road.

Continuing on...

We pulled out of the church parking lot with cars in front of and behind us... all heading to the same area. The conversation quickly turned to teeth, shopping, and how Jen's not good with reading a map. With that said, I handed the maps back to Sarah and Nina, trusting them to get us to our destination.

We drove along a very-familiar road (this particular road leads to Wal-Mart, so we know it quite well!) before turning on to S. Lane. My two rear passengers suddenly implored me to turn left, so with a quick spin of the wheel, we were on another road, leaving the safety of the "pack" we were traveling in, yet certain we were going the right way.

HA!

As we approached an unfamiliar road, I heard my redheaded friend say, "This isn't right. Go back to S. Lane and turn left."

Okie dokie. Rachel and I often say, "This car does reverse!" (particularly on Visitation...hmm, I see a trend!) so I turned my little car around on the deserted road and headed towards S. Lane, confident that out of three girls, one of them should get me to where I needed to be.

As I drove along the windy road, Sarah suddenly exclaimed, "Swabia Creek! We're going the right way!" so I pressed on. But within a 1/2 mile, I heard a "I don't think we're going the right way. Maybe we should turn around." With that uttered, I did reverse (again:o)). Now keep in mind I barely glanced at the map; I figured that's what three passengers were for!!! So I sweetly followed their leading;o).

The mood in the car was light and fun as we attempted to find the streets that we were supposed to do. We headed the other way on S. Lane, but after two miles and seeing the local ski resort lights in the distance, we realized (yet again!) that we were going the wrong way. So I turned around and started going the way we just came.

Have you counted the reverses yet?;o)

One road on the map was called Macungie Road, so my redheaded friend Jen told me to head towards Wal-Mart/Macungie Road and we would go from there. As I pulled up to the road, we realized Macungie Road and Lower Macungie Road are two different roads. Two very different roads. Realizing our mistake, we wondered what direction to take. I kid you not, I heard "left!" "right!" "straight!" all at the same time as I approached an intersection with a green light. Ahhhhh! It turned yellow and I stopped; waiting to sort out something from all the chaos and confusion. Nina was very persistent that we should go straight, so I did.

It was at that point that Jen got on the phone with her brother and told him we were lost. After he asked who she was with and the laughter on his end died down:o), Jen began to rattle off street names that were on our map, but to no avail. The only thing Jeff could come up with for road names was Wheatthins. Wheatthins???? Who in the world calls a road after a cracker???

*Sigh.* Only in Pennsylvania.

At this point, I had pulled off to the side of the road and asked to see the map. Recognizing a road that I knew for sure exactly where it was, I did reverse and headed for some sort of sanity on my part.

I was about 1/2 mile from the known road when I heard Jen say, "Ok, so we have to turn around, go back to S. Lane and turn left? Ok." Being the type of person that just had to prove I knew where I was going, I kept heading for the road and finally turned left onto it just as Jen said good-bye. She reiterated we were supposed to go back to S. Lane, but I said, "I just know that Macungie Rd shoots off from this road and then we'll find the roads we need to do!", but then I realized that I was being rather obnoxious, so I meekly turned around and headed back towards S. Lane. I was just about ready to turn left when Jen's phone rang and she was told to turn right on to S. Lane and to wait at The ______ School.

John Nadaskay Jr. was going to meet us there and take us to our streets.

That was like placing the cherry on top of an ice cream sundae. To be stuck at The __________ School and to be "rescued" by John Jr. is the epitome of us girls failing and failing miserably:o).

So we waited and 30 seconds later John shows up and takes us down the original road we started on. Do you remember Swabia Creek and the reverse I did soon after that? If I had gone 10 more feet, I would've seen the road that I needed!!!!!!!!!!

And that, my friends, was the capstone to a highly entertaining evening of spending one whole hour in my car and being 5-10 minutes away from church;o).

What's even more amusing is that we managed to pass out the fliers and invitations in 20 minutes.

I rest my case.

The most amazing thing is that this happens on Visitation more than we care to admit. Like the one time Jen was driving and Tim was following and Jen turned onto what she thought was a road but it was actually a construction site. Or the time Rachel and I were driving in a nearby town and were lost, so we pulled over into a deserted parking lot to consult the map (a lot of good that does, right!). Then this policeman drives in and asks us if we were lost. Uh, nope! We just like to hang out in parking lots of unfamiliar places;o).

But the blessings from Visitation far outweigh the frustrations, and so we keep going out. Besides, who knows? Perhaps a seed was planted tonight... We'll never know until eternity.