I almost drove through a road closed sign a few days ago. I was taking a back way to a friend’s house, and just two days before, I’d followed that same road all the way to the same neighborhood my friend lives in. So, running a little late [like usual] and trying to answer my child’s incessant questions over the sounds of her favorite children’s CD [like usual], I was speeding down the road giving it [the road] the bare minimum of attention.

Hugging the corner tightly as we rounded the roundabout, I turned toward the road we always take and [as I mentioned] had taken less than 48 hours earlier. Insert screeching brakes here [even if only for effect, because honestly, I was not driving that fast]!

The road was closed. We had to take a detour. The detour was one I had to figure out on my own, because none was marked. I was late. I was half lost. And I couldn’t stop saying, “Huh. The road wasn’t closed on Monday! Huh.”

Ever had that happen? Ever experienced something like that in life – a suddenly closed road and not-so-well-marked detour? Me, too. And I’m writing about that at (in)courage today.

Last summer I drove several hours out of state for a funeral. I had my three-year-old daughter with me, so I was a bit restricted on just how early I could leave, but according to the directions I’d printed out from the internet, we had just enough time to drive 300 miles, stop for lunch and take one bathroom break.

Getting lost was not on the agenda.

About two-thirds of the way there, I realized my directions were leading us astray. Though Google Maps said I should have turned by now, the road to turn on was nowhere in sight. So, I kept driving.

Well, driving and mumbling, which led my inquisitive passenger to ask (repeatedly), “Mommy, are we lost? Are we there? What are you saying? Why are we going this way? Should we stop for directions?”

After I drove for several miles without seeing the road my directions told me to take, I finally gave up and turned around. I drove back into the nearest town, stopped at a Subway and asked the first person to make eye contact for help. She kindly informed me that we had, of course, been driving the right way and just needed to keep going.

To read the rest of this post, please join me at (in)courage.