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Jodi Detrick / December 2, 2020

You Are Here: Hope for the Directionally-Challenged Soul

It’s no secret that I’m directionally challenged.  And I wish this were true only when I’m driving an automobile. That, at least, is a little more expected and moderately acceptable.   Unfortunately, my spatial confusion also extends to large office buildings, hotel hallways (I always come out of my room and turn in exactly the opposite direction of where I should go, much to my husband’s amusement), and shopping malls.

That’s why I’m particularly fond of those big directory signs that let you see the whole footprint of the complex at once.   Even then, I look first for that yellow star and the words, “YOU ARE HERE.”  Those three little words give me hope.  “Okay,” I think, “I am here.” (Whew!) “Now, where do I need to be next?  What’s the best route to get there—and what landmarks should I watch for along the way?”

Wouldn’t it be nice if those words were written in bold letters (with the accompanying star) on the landscape of our lives? YOU ARE HERE. If that were the case, “here” would be different in each season and circumstance of life.

YOU ARE HERE. This is what being a parent of a toddler looks like—unidentifiable food crumbs on the floor (and sometimes in your hair), an array of stained bibs and sticky Sippy cups on the counters, and daily tussles centered around a potty chair that leave you pressing weary fingers against your throbbing temple—but just breathe. Look deeply into those trusting, please-show-me-the-world eyes. Drink in that sparkling elixir of effervescent giggles, heart-melting smiles, and I-need-you-now cries. You are here, but you won’t be here long.

YOU ARE HERE. Those “for better or for worse” marriage vows? This is what the “for worse” part refers to: thick-with-hurt silence, cold looks, followed by heated, wounding words…and then more icy silence. A marriage that grows its way through the years has pinnacles of delight and slumps of struggle. And yes, you are here, in a slump…but there is a way to get “there” again. Painful patterns don’t have to be repeated endlessly. You are here, but don’t stay here.

YOU ARE HERE. So this is midlife and, yeah, things are going pretty well. Those you love are healthy, your job seems secure (even if it’s stressful now and then), and no major calamities are looming, as far as you can tell.  But, to be honest, your soul feels stale. Relentless obligations and mundane demands of midlife threaten to rob a heart of its dreams. Probing questions resurface from time to time, especially in the night hours: “Is there more for me…more to me? If so what would ‘more’ look like? A different job? A change of location? Maybe a new focus on helping others who have so much less? And how in the world would I get there from here?”  The soul-searching questions of mid-life are jarring. You are here. But if you let it, this uncomfortable place might just allow you to dust off your old dreams or find new ones.

Throughout the course of a life, our “YOU ARE HERE” sign keeps changing. Student…newly employed…recently divorced…cancer survivor…finally retired. When I re-read the Christmas story this year, I see it as a directory sign for the soul–a fixed marker around which to orient my always-changing life.

It’s as if God looked down at His directionally-challenged creation…His loved, but lost, humans. He saw our confusion, our rebellion, our futile wanderings. And He put a star in the sky as a point of reference, not only for the wise men coming from the east, but for all of us who need to find our way in life. (Matthew 2:9)  The star would lead to a young child named Jesus, meaning “Savior.” But Jesus also had another name that is described in Matthew 1:23 (NKJV):  “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us.”

What a stunning thought: God with us, here…however messy, confusing, and imperfect it may be. In the Christmas story God says to us, “You are here, so I’ll come here, too.”

Here is often hard, I know. But I’m learning that it doesn’t matter so much where “here” is—what matters most is who you are here with.  Immanuel. YOU ARE HERE…and so is God.


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Filed Under: Christmas, Connection, Encouragement, Hope, Life Struggles, Love, Peace, Redemption

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Wife. Mom. Grammy. Speaker. Author of "The Settled Soul" and "The Jesus-Hearted Woman." Resister of the safe life. User of the last drop of each day's allotment of grace. God-adventurer who has learned that starting over in multiples is okay. Ordinary (and sometimes tired) woman who believes you should never leave home without a loaded Starbucks card.

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Went out for a BRRRRrisk walk with my favorite guy Went out for a BRRRRrisk walk with my favorite guy, Don Detrick, this morning. Now ready to cheer on our favorite team!! #GOHAWKS
So heavy-hearted. No political comments, please. L So heavy-hearted. No political comments, please. Let’s humble ourselves and pray. #Christhavemercy
Starting 2021 off with a little sweetness—homema Starting 2021 off with a little sweetness—homemade rustic apple tart. 😋 Wishing you all many blessings and a much sweeter year ahead! #itisdelish #worththeeffort #worththecalories #sweetstartto2021
𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞; 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐤 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐦𝐞.

▪️ 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐟 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐚 𝟕-𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞, 𝐠𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐦𝐞𝐭 𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐚𝐬𝐭.

▪️ 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐢𝐥𝐨𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐧𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐠𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐮 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐲 𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐭 𝟑𝟕,𝟎𝟎𝟎 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐭 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐚 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐭 (𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐛𝐛𝐥𝐲 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐞𝐥 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐝) 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐮 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐢𝐬𝐥𝐞𝐬.

▪️ 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐥𝐞 𝐚 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐧𝐨 𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐞.

🌟	𝙏𝙝𝙤𝙨𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙙𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙜𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙖𝙡𝙨𝙤 𝙙𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙡𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙚𝙧.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐆𝐨𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐞𝐧𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐯𝐢𝐫𝐠𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐦𝐲 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐢𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐬.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐄𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐎𝐧𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐰𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐇𝐢𝐦𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐢𝐧 𝐛𝐚𝐛𝐲 𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐧 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐰𝐫𝐚𝐩 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐫𝐲, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞, 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬.

𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤 𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐚 𝐠𝐮𝐢𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫, 𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐜 𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚 𝐧𝐞𝐰𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐧'𝐬 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐫, 𝐇𝐞 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐬 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐜𝐮𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭--𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒏𝒆𝒔 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂 𝒑𝒓𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒓 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒏𝒐𝒘.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐆𝐨𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝒔𝒐 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒔 𝐮𝐬 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐢𝐟𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐒𝐨𝐧 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐨 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐮𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝐝𝐚𝐲...𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝...𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐠𝐧𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐮𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠...𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒔𝒆 𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐤 "𝑰 𝒅𝒐𝒏'𝒕 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒊𝒇 𝑰 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒌𝒆𝒆𝒑 𝒅𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔" 𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐟𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐭 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐞. 

𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙊𝙣𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙝𝙖𝙨 𝙙𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙜𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙗𝙮 𝙃𝙞𝙨 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙖𝙡𝙨𝙤 𝙙𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙡𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝 𝙃𝙞𝙨 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚. 𝐍𝐨𝐰 𝑻𝑯𝑨𝑻 𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐲 𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐡. 🌟
Since my birthday guy loves dates (the fruit kind, Since my birthday guy loves dates (the fruit kind, and ones with me, of course 😉) and nuts (the kind that grow on trees, and me, of course 🤣), I tried a new recipe for his celebration today: Date Nut Tart with warm caramel sauce (and whipped cream). Oh maaaaan. 😋 Let’s just say I’ll be making this again. 👩🏼‍🍳 
#YUM #birthdaycalories #lovemyman
Hey world. Today is the birthday of the amazing ma Hey world. Today is the birthday of the amazing man I met and fell in love with when I was just 15-years-old. (One of the smartest things I’ve ever done.)
Don Detrick, all these years later, you mean more to me and to our family (not to mention all the people you bless with your kindness, generosity, and wisdom in every realm of your life) than ever. Jesus shows up through you in such tangible ways. I celebrate you today and every day—even in a pandemic year when we’re together 24/7! 😅 Happy birthday, my love!! #alwaysmyfavorite #heisthebest #betterwitheachbirthday
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