Earlier this year I reconnected with someone I had met years ago at a conference. Esther is a Development Worker for Scripture Union in the South West of the UK. As we chatted, one of the things God highlighted was her real talent for writing. I felt a real prod from The Lord to ask her to write something for this blog…
It took her a while. Life has been busy and, in places, hard for her. But she finally dropped this beautiful blog into my inbox this week. I hope you enjoy both parts:

Part 1:

It was a bright sunny morning. I got into the car. Typed a postcode into Satnav, switched the radio on and happily hummed to some feet- tapping tunes. Everything was packed. Not much traffic on the motorway. I was prepared for my work meeting. All was well with the world.
And then it wasn’t.

Fog descended. Serious fog. Impenetrable cotton-wool-blanket-type fog.
My mood changed instantly. I felt frustrated, anxious, my feathers were ruffled. Huffing replaced humming. I couldn’t see anything much. At all.
Then Tom Tom blinked and… blanked. I had no road map, and having relied solely on sat nav for navigation I had absolutely no idea how to reach my destination.

I tried to plod on s-l-o-w-l-y but it was white out. A car came quickly up behind me and stopped just in time.
Panicking, I pulled in to a lay by. Then I had a brainwave. Siri could come to the rescue! But no. Even he was having a fog induced siesta. I felt the panic rise.

I decided to call my husband, Ben. But would he have his phone on him? Would he answer it? Could he be at work already? The phone rang and rang”¦. but eventually he picked up. Phew. He googled a route and guided me along a twisty turny roundabout route that took much longer than the motorway would have. But as I meandered around narrow country lanes, the unwelcome diversion made me reflect on something I would have missed had I simply cruised along the motorway, brain on autopilot.

How do I react when life’s curveballs knock out my security systems? When the very thing I rely on is unreliable? When the thing that gives me security lets me down?

That job? That church? That relationship? That role? That life script?
I guess you could say that I’ve had a curveball tastic last few years really. Everything was ticking along smoothly. We had a job, a house, a neighbourhood we were settled in, a church family we loved, where we felt we belonged.
And then one day we didn’t.

Our curveball was a ‘secure’ job suddenly ending. The ensuing domino effect of rapidly losing our home, location, friendship circles and support networks left us reeling. Like a thick fog descending, rapid, unwelcome change left us disorientated, anxious and unsure. Catapulted from a place of feeling secure, settled and supported to a disorientating wilderness of uncertainty and chaos.

(Read part 2 tomorrow)