Happy Anticipated Birthday to My Car; How God Guides Me

(Just a disclaimer. If I was to presume stereotype, then almost no humans of the female persuasion would enjoy this next article. Consider that a warning.)

I really treasure my car. It’s been my faithful steed through more miles and circumstances than its predecessor. The reason I’m posting about this is because my ’02 Camry (“Misty,” as I once named it . . . her) is approaching the mile count where she will have had more miles with my at the steering wheel than her previous owner. She will be, more technically, mine.

March 2007. I was a betrothed, first-year seminary student in the north ‘burbs of Chicago, living with two college friends. At the time, my ’91 Camry (“Bluebell”), which had served me well in high school and college, was starting to really show its age. I couldn’t rely on it for big trips, and I knew that even more travel was imminent in the next few years. Bluebell retired and I sold her to an employee at my grad school for $200. Before she retired from my service, though, she passed the torch.

I found Misty, of all places, on the tacky and sometimes shady online classifieds known as Craig’s List. She was for sale from a man in a fairly close-by suburb and evidently had had a very healthy upbringing.

I actually bought my new car while my fiancee was on her college spring break, and it was already my job to pick her up from the airport. I decided to pull out my choir tux, put on think black gloves and pretend to be a limo driver, holding up a paper sign with “Christina Gilliland” (not her name yet) scribbled in Sharpie while she came down the escalator at the airport.

Little did I know how far my car would go at the time, having to tag along for all the unexpected turns our married life took.

The image above is a rough map of where my car (not me, just my car) has been since I’ve been driving it. (I was unable to include an anniversary trip to Lake Geneva and our attendance of a wedding of some grad school friends in Oshkosh). Each squiggle has a story (some are boring), whether it’s a road trip, a move, etc.

There is a certain degree where looking at that map, for me, is looking into my past and my journeys. There were many surprises, some good, some bad, but God worked them all out. I pray to continue to look upon further journeys with that attitude. Sometimes it's helpful to look at different types of maps.