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ROAD SIGNS

I wasn’t planning on coming to China till after Easter. I thought I’d spent a peaceful week of reflection and meditation this Holy Week together with a friend and her family in my country house in the mountain, south of the city where I live. I was so looking forward to this momentary halt in my hectic schedule at work that I could hardly wait. I thought it was a vacation well deserved. Alas, it would not be so. We had a disaster situation with one of the orders we placed in China and I had to fly there pronto! After talking to my business partner about what we need to do I felt depressed and stressed which my son did not miss because he’s gone unusually quiet after I hung up on the phone. Sweet thing, he gave me a big hug when he saw mommy’s gloomy face. Bless him!
So, my weekend plan was ruined as I needed to dash off to China to iron out our problems there. Bought my ticket at the airport and took off for Xiamen in mid afternoon of Palm Sunday. I was seated beside a distinguished looking Chinese businessman. Sensing he doesn’t speak English, I made no move to start any conversation. Read the newspapers almost the entire 2 hour trip. When we were about to land and I was still reading the papers, the Chinese businessman nudged me to look at the magazine pocket in front of me. I thought he was reminding me to fill in the arrival card which I casually tossed in there when the crew distributed it to us. I acknowledged it and said thank you. I filled it in, kept it with my passport and forgot all about it. Then it was time for disembarkation. I got out of the airport smoothly with plenty of time to board my next flight. I was about to check in on my domestic flight when I suddenly remember I left my distance eyeglasses in the magazine pocket of my seat! I hurriedly went back and look for the Lost and Found counter to report my missing eyeglasses. If there’s one thing I like about China it’s their system. It works! And the people are honest and are just too glad to help. The lady in the counter could not speak English very well. And there was this young Chinese guy beside me leaving his luggage in the left luggage counter when he heard my conversation with the lady. He helped me translate to the lady about my problem. When the lady understood my complaint, she made several phone calls. She asked me to wait as they checked the plane. Meanwhile, the gentleman who became my instant translator patiently waited with me. I thought at first that he’s also waiting for something. Then I realized he’s waiting till I get my glasses back! What a nice man.
Now what the heck the title of this blog got to do with I’ve written here, you might ask. Well, while I was waiting at the lost and found counter I had an insight. God indeed speaks to us in very, very subtle manner that if we’re not alert we’ll miss it. And we always miss it….me in particular. God tried to talk to me thru that Chinese businessman when he nudged me to check the magazine pocket of my seat. If I listened carefully I should have checked the pocket before I got up. Days before, I had that queasy and uneasy feeling about our production in China. Sure, our staffs were doing their best to monitor and follow up the progress but something was not up to par. Know what I mean? I was in denial while my mental faculties were screaming WARNING, WARNING, WARNING…DANGER AHEAD! I didn’t do anything about it. Just totally ignore it.
Looking back on my past I remember the many instances that I failed to hear God’s voice as I refused to heed my intuition or listen to the quiet voice deep inside me telling me there are danger curves ahead. Stubborn by nature, I usually ignore all those danger signs I think God keep putting up on the road called life. And bless Him for HE always sends someone to help me get back on the road again when I miss a detour or fall on the wayside as I ignore the orange neon sign that says NARROW PATH KEEP WALKING STRAIGHT.