An Adventure in Austin

There must be a law of physics that states if a person is not familiar with a certain area, than he/she will become lost. I am beginning my second year at UT Austin and my first to have a car here. Today, for my internship with my church, I was sent to several craft stores to buy materials for a project on which we are working. What should have been at max a two hour errand (including drive time) turned into a three and a half hour fiasco.

The whole entire trip I seemed to NEVER be in the correct lane in order to turn the way I wanted, to stay on the highway I wanted, or to get on the highway I wanted. I got on and off the TX-1-loop about four times before I actually made it to my destination. Once I finally arrived at the first store it had no supplies that were applicable to the project. Therefore, with nothing accomplished besides the fact that I now understand the West Austin area much better, I trekked over to the other store across town. I made my way to this store without as many issues except for the fact that there was so much traffic. There was road construction, which caused more delays, and I had to sit at a red light for nearly seven minutes! However, once I actually started shopping at the second store I found the items that were needed.

The only other delay involved checking out. Since the materials I bought were for the church they were tax exempt, which involved filling out some pretty lengthy forms. Yet, this extra time spent was well worth the money that was saved and the ten percent discount the church received, because the store has a discount for churches.

Even though it would appear as if I wasted my afternoon attempting to find my way around Austin, I feel as though I challenged myself in a healthy way. I forced myself to be a problem solver and to think in a way I am not accustomed. Also, since I was on my own, I had no one to divert my anger and frustration onto, which in turn showed me I do not need to snap or lose my temper to solve my problems; staying calm and level-headed is key. I needed to be lost and drive all over Austin so that God could show me how to deal with situations in ways that are pleasing to Him.