From the day we arrived in Madrid for our yearlong stay, we felt lost—lost in a great expanse of tangled roads, confusing signs and maze-like street layouts. The day we drove into the city for the first time we got a ticket (unknown to us at the time but received in our mailbox a month later), because we drove down a street restricted to residents only. Evidently, in our quest to find our rented apartment, we hadn’t noticed the restrictions posted on the entrance to the street (along with several other signs), nor the cameras mounted above the sign which had captured our license plate. In many ways, the city seems to have a split personality—on the one hand there is an overabundance of regulations and rules and on the other hand there seems to be a complete lack of planning.

Confusing streets and signage are not unique to Madrid. Many European cities, because of their age ad development, have equally challenging layouts, especially for Americans, but Madrid presents something unique. Madrid is more or less flat and landlocked, expansive, and lacks obvious landmarks by which to locate yourself. Even the locals admit that it is hard to find your way around and often aren’t very helpful in giving directions. Using the metro, for all the conveniences that presents, adds another problem. When you enter a station and spend your time traveling underground, you lose your sense of direction quickly. Many of the stations are two, three or four sets of escalators deep. You descend, you turn this way and that to go the right direction, you change trains and go up a level to get on the connecting line. When you finally exit and ascend back to the surface, you have to spend a few concentrated moments reorienting yourself and studying where to go. Many times I started walking the wrong way out of a metro exit and, after 5 or 10 minutes, realized my mistake and turned around.

I decided early on that the best way to figure out the city was to explore it without a map. I urged my husband to put away his street map and walk around familiarizing himself with buildings and streets. It wasn’t easy for him. He loves maps and doesn’t like to waste time so my method went against his nature. Eventually though I won him over. Some of our best times were spent getting lost. And, thanks to getting lost so much, by the end of the year we knew Madrid better than some natives.

It strikes me that trying to find your way in a new city is a lot like trying to find your way in life. Our road maps for living are of limited use. We may only have a vague sense of where we should go next. I’m surprised that this sense only gets vaguer for me with age. Old friends move away and I make new friends, one career is unsatisfactory and I start a new one, old interests fade and new ones take its place. More and more the only thing I know for certain is that God is unchanging and that he somehow has me in his hands. In fact, I think God must want a certain degree of change in our lives so that we come to depend more on him. Maybe we must undergo a process of constant renewal and change to contain the life God wants us to live. We are like the new wine skins awaiting new wine. Each day is new territory. Each day demands creativity.

Fortunately God is partners with us in this creative task of living. When we arrived in Madrid I assumed I wouldn’t find very many protestant churches, let alone one close by or that I might really enjoy. I imagined that I might spend the year worshipping in a Catholic church, which was OK with me. As it turned out though, thanks to Google, I found a wonderful protestant church five minutes away from our house. The church’s style of worship was similar to what I was used to and the preacher spoke slowly and clearly so I could understand his sermons. Over the course of a year I became friends with the pastor and his wife and count them as some of the best friends I made in Madrid. It was as if God had arranged this connection just for me and my family.

Looking back at my year abroad I see many such connections. Perhaps just like the road map I didn’t want or need, I don’t want or need a road map for life. In fact, if everything were laid out for me ahead of time I would take much for granted. The surprise of finding the wonderful church or of finding new friends leads me to be thankful. I think this is just where God wants me to be.