When I was in kindergarten, my station partner was Jamie Manning. See, in kindergarten, teachers always put you with someone they thought complemented you. We were best friends. Jamie and I, being station partners, traveled from station to station so we could learn letters, spelling, our addresses, our left and right, and even typing (this was 1989 to 1990, so typing was a tremendous deal). I specifically remember one day when Jamie and I were walking down the middle of the classroom on our way to the next station. She was wearing her cute boots with fur lining the top of them and a short skirt that all of us girls can totally get by with wearing when we’re five or six years old. We got toward the end of the room and I turned right because my folder specifically told me to go to the spelling station. I was pumped! I had been practicing how to spell “hand” and “cat” and other such words. I was looking forward to the blue earphones from which a man’s voice would tell me to spell these words. Suddenly, I was jerked.
Ever been jerked?
Jamie’s folder told her to go to the left– the complete opposite direction than me. Ironically, she was headed toward learning her address. We didn’t know what to do. There we were, doing everything we were supposed to be doing. We were holding hands so we would help one another remember where we were going. We were walking on the red line that all students were supposed to follow. We weren’t even talking to one another. We were perfectly behaved young ladies–little girls. We raised our free hands, still holding tightly to one another, and waited for a teacher to tell us where to go.
Amos 3.3 says, “Do two people walk hand-in-hand if they aren’t going to the same place?”
Sure, Jamie and I were walking hand-in-hand, but our teachers had decided we were going two different places. I’m positive this was an oversight on their part, but my Savior doesn’t make oversights. If I were to be walking along in this Journey and I expereinced a Jerk, shouldn’t I let go? This Journey doesn’t always seem to have a red line to follow. While red (and, arguably blue) blood was shed for me and my shortcomings, the line I follow– the direction I must take– has points where there are forks and decisions must be made. Hold on or move on?