Finding hope, purpose and peace when life takes an unexpected turn

The road to recovery: Following God’s breadcrumbs

Monday, May 25, 2026

*Dolores Hanley McDiarmid

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When unpleasant, disruptive circumstances come our way, the Bible teaches us to have hope. Proverbs 3:5 tells us, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your path.”

One of my favorite posters features Kermit the Frog and Fozzie Bear riding in a car, consulting a paper map (remember those?) to navigate their journey.

The paper map that Kermit holds reminds me of the maps we create in our minds when planning how we would like our lives to unfold. We expect our journey to go smoothly and as planned because we trust the map. Remember this saying? “Tell God your plans and watch Him laugh.”

Haven’t we all found ourselves creating a map in our minds that plans out all the things we want to do, the things we want to achieve, and when we want to do them? Then, out of the blue, we experience an unexpected disruption or events that change those plans. I call these “God’s detours.”

Examples of God’s detours include experiencing a natural disaster, the illness of oneself or a loved one, financial difficulties, the end of a relationship or divorce, the death of someone we love, or being transferred to a new job or new place to live.

Any of these unexpected circumstances can cause a person to feel lost, hopeless, confused, angry, or depressed. When the unexpected happens, we need to be able to move forward, and that is not always easy.

When our roadmap becomes outdated, we can turn to scripture to find guidance. Isaiah 55:8-9 tells us, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways.” God’s ways may not be our ways, but He is always near and helps us to navigate through the detours as we put our trust in Him.

Surprisingly, it was the fairy tale about Hansel and Gretel that has helped me create and implement what I call “Following God’s Breadcrumbs,” a technique for recovering after a detour. In this fairy tale, siblings Hansel and Gretel venture away from home, traveling through a scary forest filled with the unknown.

They had no one to rely on but themselves and had to think of a way to help them get back home. Their plan was to drop breadcrumbs as they traveled, leaving a trail behind them that would lead them back home. However, the unexpected happened. The birds ate the breadcrumbs, leaving them with no way to return home. They were lost and scared!

Unlike Hansel and Gretel, all of us who may have to navigate through uncertain times are not alone. God is always with us. He is ahead of us. God knows the future that waits for us and wants to guide us so we can walk in His will.

When we are trying to recover from one of God’s detours or the unexpected circumstances in our lives, God tells us to have hope. He will send breadcrumbs to help us move forward. We need to expect the breadcrumbs He will put in front of us, and we need to watch for them with great expectation.

Examples of breadcrumbs that help us move forward include family members, friends, people in our lives, strangers, money, a homily at church, community programs, new opportunities, a TV show, or a song we hear, and divine inspiration. Also, a breadcrumb can come in the form of the sacraments of Reconciliation and the Eucharist.

I experienced one of God’s detours nine years ago. Retirement was not a word in my vocabulary, and my personal roadmap included working for at least 10 more years in a field that I was passionate about and that I considered more of a ministry than a career.

After praying and reflecting, I could see that God was directing me to travel on a different and uncertain path. He was calling me to leave this chapter that was rewarding and fulfilling, and to trust Him.

He had me right where He needed me, in a place where I had no agenda of my own and only a desire to do what He wanted me to do. This was a major detour in my life! My roadmap was thrown out the window, and I felt lost. God was asking me to trust Him.

There were a few questions that ran through my mind. How was God going to direct my path? How was I going to know what He wanted me to do? How was God going to help me through this new chapter of my life?

The positive side of the detour was that I had more time to attend weekday Mass, attend adoration of the Blessed Sacrament regularly, pray the Rosary, and create a spiritual support group for people living with blindness and visual impairments.

Believing that God places His breadcrumbs in front of us to follow helped me to navigate without the map I created in my mind, a map with my own personal expectations.

Following God’s breadcrumbs each day was the answer to moving forward and recovering from the detour in my life. Once again, my life gradually became more meaningful, peaceful, and filled with greater happiness and joy.

The first of the many breadcrumbs that God put in my path to help me move forward was an acquaintance from the St. Anthony Catholic Church Women’s Guild. She invited me to join the ladies, and I accepted the invitation. There were opportunities to help people in our community who were in need, as well as other meaningful projects.

It has been almost nine years since I encountered that major detour, and I can honestly say that following God’s numerous breadcrumbs has led me to a life filled with new opportunities that include facilitating the Catholic Community Book Circle with a friend, participating in another book club at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church, bringing the Blessed Sacrament to the homebound at St. Pius X Parish, and promoting the ministry of adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.

If you have hit a detour, or if one comes your way in the future, trust God, look for His breadcrumbs, and follow them. In addition, with prayer, reflection, and receiving the sacraments, God will direct your path!