U-Turn

Earlier this month Dear Hubs, Adorable Stepson and I traveled by car from our home in Gardner, KS (suburban Kansas City) to New Orleans, LA. We spent a fun and relaxing week with “Grammie and Grampie” although Dear Hubs and I just call them Mom and Pop. We were spoiled rotten and thoroughly enjoyed soaking up the color, sounds, hospitality and heavenly aromas of the French Quarter, the Mississippi bayou, and Mom’s kitchen.

 

We took the scenic state highways from just south of Kansas City and into Memphis. From there we traveled via interstate highway through Mississippi and into New Orleans. The interstate was surprisingly just as scenic as the byway. None of us had traveled those roads before so the entire 14-hour trip was one of discovery.

 

Once in the city of New Orleans we encountered (in addition to many beautiful faces and sights) the most curious traffic signs: U-Turn. Here in the mid-section of the USA there are No U-Turn signs galore, but I don’t recall having seen any U-Turn signs. Mom explained that 4-way intersections in New Orleans are designed so that left hand turns are not possible through the intersection. Instead, turn right at the traffic light, and several yards thereafter follow the U-Turn sign to get back in the right direction. This is to aide traffic flow. And it seemed to work because I didn’t encounter any traffic snarls the entire week. I’ve been thinking about those U-Turn signs ever since.

 

Life is that way, isn’t it? U-Turn. No U-Turn. Slow. Yield. Merge. My professional life has been in a rut of sorts – comfortable, but rather stagnant. The day before my vacation the large corporation I work for laid me off. Or rather, my job was transferred from Kansas City to St. Louis. So the corporation offered me a choice of three positions in another Kansas City area location.

 

U-Turn Ahead

 

For various reasons, I wasn’t happy about the transfer of jobs. The mere thought of working in the other facility gave me a good deal of stress, and I was uneasy to be setting off for a week-long vacation without knowing exactly what my professional future would hold. But after returning home and meeting with management in my new location I quickly realized that I had been worrying for nothing. In fact, I’m looking forward to the change of scenery, new horizons and prospects for growth within the corporation.

 

Prepare to Merge

 

New Orleans was a cathartic vacation. One night I had a very odd dream in which my professional life blended with my vocation (following Jesus, being part of a church plant, and increasingly becoming involved with Youth and Missional work). I woke to the loveliest birdsong ever heard. The blinds were drawn and I was much too comfy in Mom’s guest bedroom to rise and check it out. So I laid there in the comfort of downy pillows, pondering the dream and listening to what sounded like…a parrot…outside the window. But Dear Hubs believes my mixed-up dream and the subsequent chattering/whistling/singing were signs from God. I had nothing to worry about as far as my job or my vocation. And sure enough, once I returned to work and chose a position, everything was returned back to right, in-focus, crystal clear, and right side up.

 

Yep, U-Turns will do that to a person. They take you on a path you didn’t want or ask for. But shortly thereafter you’re on your way once again, and everything is fine. So quit worrying and trust that God meant for it to happen.

 

If you have ever been in a rut, what alternative route was presented to you? And what was the outcome?

 

Love,

Jamie

 

I‘m going back someday
Come what may
To Blue Bayou
Where the folks are fine
And the world is mine
On Blue Bayou
Where those fishing boats
With their sails afloat
If I could only see
That familiar sunrise
Through sleepy eyes
How happy I’d be

                              -excerpt from Blue Bayou, Roy Orbison