Moving to Providence

Growing Daily

Moving to Providence

Growing up in the Chicago area, I never worried about getting lost.  The city is laid out like a giant checkerboard — most streets run perfectly north-south or east-west.  Even in an unfamiliar neighborhood, I always knew which direction I was heading.

When I got married, I moved to Providence, Rhode Island.  So much for the grid.  The map looks like a bowl of spaghetti.  Roads twist and wander in every direction with no pattern whatsoever.

This was a difficult adjustment for me. I never quite knew where I was going.  But over time, I came to appreciate something: Providence wasn’t designed by a city planner with a ruler.  It grew organically over generations, shaped by colonial paths, terrain, and the daily routines of those who lived here long before me.  The map may look chaotic, but every bend has its own story.

God’s providence works the same way.  The path He lays out rarely resembles the clean grid we might design for ourselves.  There are curves and twists.  Sometimes the road even seems to double back.

But Isaiah 46:10 reminds us, “Everything I plan will come to pass.” And Psalm 37:23 says, “The Lord directs the steps of the godly.”

The roads aren’t random.  The One who brought me to Providence — in every sense of the word — knows every bend.  He planned them all.   


- Ron Reid