I won't let this day pass without putting this experience on the record. I do not want this forgotten. It's one of the memories that I (or my daughter) will look one day to laugh, and tell ourselves, "we didn't give up!"
My 6th grader was invited to her best friend's birthday party today. The schedule is not a typical party time. It's between 5 to 7 PM. Her Dad has a scheduled online meeting with his friends, therefore, I will be the one to drive her to and fro.
I do not drive very often. Most of all, I haven't driven to a place where I am not familiar with. Well, the venue where the party will be is totally not familiar. But I have Google maps which gives me instruction as I drive, so there's nothing to worry about. I am very confident about it. Plus, I get to prove that I can take her to places by myself.
Well, I was totally wrong. The GPS brought us to the wrong address. We circled and circled in the place. It took us to nowhere. I started to get upset. I felt bad for her. I called her friend's Mom, but her instruction didn't help at all. We tried several ways to get to the destination, but failed. She started to get upset and started to whimper. She begged to just go home. But I didn't want to do that. I wanted to take her where she should be in those hours. After a few tries, we came into an agreement that if we don't find the place again, we will just go home. But deep inside me I didn't want to give up. I kept calling heaven for help. She took care of the phone and gave me instructions on where to go. The GPS took us to the same place again. I called her Dad and told him what happened. He asked us about the address. And well, we totally messed up. Apparently I didn't specify the word "court" after the number and the street name. So, the GPS took us by default to a "drive" instead of court. Most streets in our valley use "drive" instead of "street," "lane," "circle," etc. I was clueless that these names matter a lot when asking a GPS to locate the place for direction.
Even though we decided to just go home, Evie changed the wordings on the phone, thus showing her the correct direction. On our way out, I stopped by the corner, and one good Samaritan noticed us just circling around, so he asked. Well, we were totally in the wrong place, the reason we couldn't find it. He gave us an instruction which actually matched the new info that Evie entered on the phone. We headed our way and in 3 minutes was parked right in front of her friend's house. She has an hour and seven minutes late. Yup. It was already dark. I felt bad for her and at the same time happy that despite our misadventures, we made it together. I took it as a beautiful, learning experience for the both of us together. I saw how and what we will be when we are bombarded by surprises. I am very proud of her. Even though there was a point she lost her hope, she didn't give up in the end.
We just laughed what happened after we picked her up. When she and I got out of the car, she asked for a hug. Then she told me that what we went through is just like something that happens on Amazing Race. LOL. I thought of the same thing on my way home from dropping her off. Talk about mother and daughter thinking alike (and yes, Dada drove me and Fifi to pick her up).
Today is a beautiful day. Today is totally a different day. Today is something to celebrate with wonderful memories that we get to talk about in the future.
My Abba, Father, my Lord Jesus, the Holy Spirit, all His angels were there all the time to help us out. It's another evidence of how He takes care and protects us all the time.
