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"...and (abram) went on his journey from the south as far as Bethel, to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai, to the place of the altar whcih he had made ther at first. and there abram called on the Name of the LORD."

"As I was saying..." it's almost as if God doesn't miss a beat when we walk off in our own direction. He leads us back to where we were and is ready to lead on anew.

this from a recent funeral:

He hunted and fished with his boys and passed that love for the outdoors to them. Donald told me this story.

Larry, was in his late 60’s…Donald and his nephew in their early 20’s or so. They were out rabbit hunting and went deep into the woods. As dusk was approaching they decided it was time to gather the dogs and get headed home. The boys were sure of which direction to go…and off they headed. After short while they called back. “dad? You o.k.?” “Yep. Are you ok?” he called back. “Then why are you sitting there?” they asked him. “because you are going the wrong way” no we’re not. Yes you are. So he said to the boys “you go ahead…I’ll wait here. If you see something you recognize call me and I’ll come.” So the boys walked…determined they were right they walked further. Not wanting to admit they were wrong and the ol’ man was right, they walked still a little further. Finally they turned back where Larry was sitting on the stump. He didn’t say anything, they didn’t say anything…but out they walked…Larry’s way…and, of course, he was right.

Larry had an inborn sense of direction. He could be in the woods all day following after dogs on rabbit trails and still turn in the right direction…and head home.
That is unlike most of us, isn’t it?

In fact, in the spiritual sense, it is like all of us. The Bible tells us that all of us, every one of us, has gone in the wrong direction. We’ve turned away from God. Maybe we didn’t do too many “really bad things”…but we’ve all wandered off into the woods making our own decisions and not fully following God.
And God our heavenly Father sits down on the stump and waits for His prodigal children to come home. Now, some of us return quickly…we don’t like the ideas of being lost in the wilderness of sin…others go a little further…deeper into the woods, if you will…deeper into sin. Some of us spend nearly our whole lives walking in those woods, wandering around…looking for our home…wishing we had a compass…and our heavenly Father waits on the stump where we left Him…anxious for us to come back to Him but knowing there is a far greater lesson to teach than just showing the way out of the woods. It is a matter of direction.

If you are missing something in your life…if you feel unfulfilled and a bit empty…it very well may be you are wandering in the woods going in your own direction. What you need to do is to do what the boys did. Maybe the Ol’ man does know what he’s talking about. Maybe we need to stop going in our own direction and turn around and follow him.

That is what walking with Jesus is all about. Turning from our own way and following Him in His way. The neat thing about it is, when we return to our Heavenly Father, He isn’t stern and mean. He doesn’t punish us or give us a lecture…when we turn to Him asking for forgiveness, He grants us forgiveness. When we come to Him looking to change our lives…He gives us the power to change. When we come to Him seeking to follow Him, He gets up off the stump and begins walking, leading us as we follow.