Directionally Challenged, Yet Grateful

Some guys I know really get into driving. You may know some, too. If you’ve gone on a road trip with them, they’re the guys who print out the maps, use a highlighter to show the routes you’ll take, and you can pretty much forget about leading the caravan. They’re out in front of that baby, hands down. I’m not that guy. I love that guy. I’m grateful when I drive with or behind that guy; I’m just not that guy. In fact, that guy probably would get easily angered if I tried to be that guy.

One of the first memories my wife and I shared together was when we went to Georgia for my college graduation. After a great weekend of celebrating, we planned to catch our return flight from Atlanta to Philadelphia. The Atlanta airport, we were told, was notorious for having long lines and we were encouraged to get there early. We left plenty of time to drive the airport, drop off our rental car and get to our gate for boarding. As we were driving to the airport reminiscing about the weekend it dawned on my wife that it had been a while since she had seen anything but farmland.

“If the airport’s in Atlanta, shouldn’t we be seeing skyscrapers or at least some large buildings by now?”

She then quickly got out the map and found that we had been traveling a good 45 minutes in the wrong direction. I’d love to tell you at this point that this was my one and only major driving catastrophe. It would be great to report that since this pleasant-turned-panic attack trip to the Atlanta airport I’ve not once made such stupid mistakes. The problem is I’d be flat out lying if I did.

It would be truthful, however, to say that my wife has made very few driving blunders. She is great with directions and I am convinced that I’ve become a better driver because of her. She also happens to be the person in my life that God has used most profoundly to teach me about grace. From her I have received incredible love, patience, and mercy which can only be attributed to the grace of God at work in her life. She helps me to be a better father, a better son and brother, a better friend, and ultimately a better servant of Christ. In my wife God has given to me a daily, flesh and bones reminder that “every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change” (James 1:17).

As the men of Covenant Fellowship Church let us express gratitude to God for the gifts He has given to us in our wives. We should consider the ways our lives are enriched, balanced, and enjoyed because of the grace of God that comes daily to us through our wives. And may we always trace the blessing of our spouse back to the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, which purchased for us every good thing from the hand of God.