The Strange Things God Uses to Slow us Down . . .

I know you are really intrigued by the title of this post and the photo. I also know I have some wild, hare-brained ideas sometimes, but it's just the way God made me! So . . . sit back and humor me by reading what I have to say.

My weekends are crazy! I'm one of the rare people who really looks forward to Mondays! Weekends for me (putting it mildly) are hectic. This past weekend was no exception.
Friday we did school and that afternoon I ran to the post office, UPS, Walgreen’s, and to the church to clean it. I was exhausted by the time we got home that night and went to bed.

Saturday I got up and decided that the church van needed to be cleaned. After asking someone else to take it to be cleaned for me, I was met with "Why didn't you ask earlier in the week?" So . . . I told the 'person' to forget it and I loaded up my book bag and headed to the local Great American Car Cleaning shop. It was my first visit there and I quickly learned that pretty Saturdays are BUSY. I was there nearly an hour, during which I was able to write out bills and study my Sunday School lesson.

From the car wash I ran to the post office (again), by Taco Bell for lunch and back home. I spent the rest of the afternoon ironing a mountain of clothes. (That is always tiring!)

I then remembered we had a Church Board meeting planned for the next day (Sunday) and I needed to bring food for the meal. (We always eat lunch as a board after the morning service and then have our meeting.) I had to run down to the store to get something to cook. I came home and put my red beans on to boil.

In the meantime I remembered that I had some more ironing to do and immediately forgot about the beans. Fortunately, when I found them, they had not scalded but were on the verge of becoming that way. I put them in the crock pot to cook all night and then stared on the morning worship’s power point presentations.

Saturday night I collapsed into the bed only to awaken to the obnoxious sound of an alarm clock. I rolled out of bed and immediately headed downstairs to finish my meal for church. I also made a pot of rice to go with the beans and a Chocolate Three Layer Delight.

I transferred the Power Point programs to my jump drive and got ready for church. I remembered that I need to print up the minutes from last month's Board Meeting so I quickly did that. I loaded all the food, and my laptop into our van and then got into the church van and headed out to pick up van riders. Did I mention that I got 3-4 phones calls that morning also!

I headed out to pick up the van riders and as I was driving down Highway 78, I started thinking about all I had done and trying to remember what I'd forgotten. Would Anna remember to set the DVD recorder to record the "Monk" marathon as I had asked her? Would Eddie remember to get the dessert off of the table and take it to the church? Would Rachel remember to wear her shoes to church? Did someone put out the dog? I wonder if the fish were fed.

My mind immediately stopped and I prayed, "LORD, I NEED SOME HELP!" It was at that moment that I looked up and saw a quickly "approaching" Yellow Ford pickup, driven by a rather large man in overalls. He was going every "bit of" 45 miles-per-hour and my first reaction was to get upset. He surely had the nerve to go so slow when I was in such a hurry. I then remembered my prayer and thought, "I bet God put that old yellow Ford in my way to slow me down a little!" I immediately started laughing and laughed even harder when I looked in my rearview mirror to see another white church van, riding my bumper!

That situation reflects our lives so much. We're heading along in life, knowing where we want to go and thinking that we know how to get there. We sometimes have good, legitimate things pushing us to go faster and do more. We're then faced with the obstacles (like the old Ford) that pop into our path and we are forced to slow down and rethink our strategy. Thank God for the reminders that we're not always in control and that we NEED God riding "shotgun" to help us guide our ways through a pot-hole strewn roads of life. I was also reminded that the next Yellow Ford could be a stroke or worse. I pray that the Lord will help me in my quest to slow down.

Note: Yes, I took the photo of the yellow truck while I was driving. I keep my camera within hand's reach just for occasions such as that!