Geez!  All this driving around to find the right place to complete a simple task could have been sidestepped if I would have had concise information.

Finally arriving at what may be my destination, I still couldn’t tell if it was my destination.  The building looked like a house from the outside, but the inside looked like a duplex.  Upon entering, there were two red doors to the left.  When my friend, Sina, came out of the second red door I felt relieved knowing that I was, indeed, in the right place.  She greeted me by bidding me to hurry up so that I didn’t miss the gathering.  As I turned my head to respond to her, there she was – a chunky 5-month-old baby girl – sleeping on the sofa in her purple onesie.

Searching the room for other adults, I saw NONE!  As a child advocate, I sensed my purpose for being there beginning to swiftly shift.  There I was sitting and waiting; waiting and watching the sleeping baby; watching for someone to come and claim her.  All I was there for, as I knew, was to get my health benefits papers updated.  However, the ill-knowledgeable lady was taking way too long to write down 8 numbers!  In her incompetent and shambolic space, I kept my sharp vision on the chunky bundle of Joy.  I have always desired to have a daughter of my own, but my womb didn’t deliver her unto me.

Eventually, I was taken into another room around the corner and on one of my frequent peeks I noticed that the baby had awakened.  She wasn’t crying or moving about trying to get off the sofa.  She just laid there looking.  So, I go and behold this caramel Gift who stared at me without a sound.  Her soul was fearless as we held a relevant conversation with our eyes.  I just had to take care of her.

As I’m enjoying her presence, someone says to me, “Change her diaper!”  When I turned around, no one was there.  Peculiar, but not puzzling at all.  I picked her up and everything concerning her was soaked and wet.  MY reason for being there was now second nature to THE reason that I was there.  SELAH.  I told the lady, “Look, just insert my numbers on this form and I will change the baby’s diaper and find some clothes for her.”  The lady looked at me and said, “Well, you can just take her!  She doesn’t have any clothes!”

Her compassionless response made my blood boil!  Yet, as an advocate, I didn’t ask any questions and I didn’t hesitate to do what I do.  I searched the adjacent rooms and couldn’t find ANY clothes to fit her.  Consequently, I cleaned her up, wrapped her in a big shirt, gathered my paperwork, and we left.  Did I know where we were going?  Yes, I did – straight to Florida.  I didn’t even want to be near what I knew as “home.”  We had been talking about moving back home, to Florida, for years and this encounter encouraged me to make an expeditious exit.  I left EVERY unnecessary thing behind and hit the road.  SELAH!

After being on the road for a few moments, I received a call from Bud.  I hadn’t heard from him in five months.  My first thought was that this better be important and my second thought was fixed on why he would be calling me.  Well, Bud went on the explain that he was having a spiritual epiphany and the only person he knew who would understand him was me.  I listened, and we shared for, what seemed like, only a few moments.  As I focused in on the road and my surroundings, I realized that I didn’t recognize where I was.  I hadn’t seen any interstate signs, exit signs, highway signs, mileage signs, no signs… Nowhere!  The entire drive was during daylight and on a two-lane road with shopping plazas and eateries.  I know I didn’t miss any signs because there were no signs.

After I ended my call with Bud, I looked in the back seat and saw the most pacific spirit.  She never cried on this journey, she never indicated that she needed a diaper change or was hungry.  When I drove up on a McDonald’s I was tempted to stop but felt an urgency to keep going.  Just ahead, on the left, was a place that looked family oriented and that’s where we stopped for help.  Well, family oriented it was with a husband and a wife.

The husband greeted us, and the wife asked if she could get the baby something to eat.  She took the baby to the kitchen, I could still see them, and begin to mix cereal for her.  Standing there, on guard, I asked the husband, “What city am I in?”  He replied, “You’re in Miles, Florida!”  Like OMG!  Happy!  Happy!  Happy!  I screeched with happiness as I couldn’t believe I was in Florida.  There were no “Welcome to Florida – The Sunshine State” signs.  Then I paused for a moment, MILES!  I’ve never heard of a city named Miles in the State of Florida.  I explained to the husband that I was trying to get to Rockledge, which is about 45-minutes East of Orlando.

He took his shirt off, sat on the couch, and said, “You’re 500 miles past your exit.”  WHAT????  How could that be true?  There were NO SIGNS!

I fell to my knees!  That same screeching came forth with weeping in angst and frustration.  Then his motive came alive as he invited me to sit next to him, so that he could console me.  His wife was still in the kitchen, with my newfound daughter, watching him watching me with his sensual eyes.  The journey was already one that I hadn’t planned to make, but to have traveled 500 miles past my destination was overwhelming.  For real though, I didn’t have time to waste being upset and I certainly couldn’t afford to devote more time in their musty presence.  I got us up and outta there, and in a hurry!

Still upset, palpitations, brain wiggling with images and thoughts, I had to wipe those tears and wake up!  When I woke up, I Binged, Googled, and Yahooed for a city in Florida named Miles.  Low and behold there it was – Miles City, Florida – situated in the Southern part of the state on a stretch of SR29 (a two-lane road) near I-75.  To my research, it is only 237.7 miles from my destination.

All that, to say this:  don’t limit yourself to what you have planned.  BE free to adjust your goals to achieve an extraordinary objective.  There is always a greater purpose than the one you’ve designed for yourself, and there is always a greater plan for you to execute.  If you get distracted and lose you way, don’t take an answer, any answer, as the only and most accurate answer. 

BE diligent!  Wake up!  Assert your skills and abilities to RESEARCH what you’ve been told!  Had I back tracked 500 miles, I would have missed home (my destination, my goal, my objective, my purpose, my target) – AGAIN!

© 2018 Angela M. Smith