Driving Too Fast

       

        It's funny how differently people respond to driving.  Many people view it as a freedom, a key to the world, while some see it as a frightening responsibility, and yet at one time or another practically everyone drives.

       I was recently retelling a story of my driving to my mom’s friend: It was in the morning and I had my mom in the front seat, two guy friends in the middle, with my teenage brother and kid sisters in the back.  There’s a turn near my house I’m normally extremely cautious of, however I knew that I had driven this route a hundred times and I let myself become overconfident.  I was going too fast and turned too sharp, the whole car practically rolled over.  Having three young men yelling at you that they “ALMOST DIED” isn’t my idea of a good time, especially considering I still had to get on the freeway.  But I laughed it off knowing if I showed how scared I really was it would affect my already not-so-great driving.    

       

       My mom’s friend laughed at my "tale of woe" and soon sobered down saying how true that is of our Christian walk.  There are always those curves in life we are constantly driving.  However, sometimes we get overconfident with our faith thinking we can do it on our own.  We go so fast we don’t realize that the curve is still there and just as sharp, just because we’ve gone around it a hundred times doesn’t mean there isn’t the probability of a crash.  We need to let God take control of the car (“Jesus Take the Wheel” hahaha), so He can guide us around those curves.  Because in the end we all have moments where we drive too fast.

       “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.” Proverbs 3:5,6  

Expectations or Limitations

       I once heard a story pertaining to a husband and wife.  The wife had made a beautiful dinner and waited for her husband to come home, an hour passed, two… He finally came in from work, the dinner was cold and she was upset.  What husband wants to come home to an upset wife?  That just makes him wish he stayed at work longer.  Her expectations for her husband were that he was to be home at a certain time, and when that expectation was not fulfilled she became angry.  However, if she had removed all expectations the scenario would go something like this: she makes dinner, he’s late, an hour, two…but he comes home!  The wife is excited because she wasn’t expecting him to come home AT ALL. haha  Plus, the husband is now coming home to a happy wife, which makes him want to be home more instead of less. 

         Because the wife set expectations on her husband it extremely constrained their relationship.  How many times do we set up expectations for friends, parents, siblings, and the government officials that they don’t fulfill?  Our expectations should not be our own.  Give them to God and set them on an altar for Him to fulfill.  “Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him” (1 John 5:14-15 NKJV).  

       Don't let expectations limit your relationships and your attitude.

  "A happy heart makes the face cheerful, but heartache crushes the spirit."  Proverbs 15:13

"But may the righteous be glad and rejoice before God; may they be happy and joyful." Psalm 68:3

I am so Totally "Stoked!"

I’ve lived in Southern California practically all my life and have never been surfing.  I’ve been to Hawaii three times and have never surfed.  But this summer that changed…

                When I was first out there I admit being a little scared, but it soon became exhilarating.  Everything from going over a wave that wasn’t quite there yet, to “flopping” off the board before I hit the shore had a kind of joy in it that made me smile.  I sat up on my board and looked out to the sea waiting for another wave; the ocean was perfectly flat, with a still, quiet, peace.  It reminded me of God’s love, and how He took the time to create this for His children to enjoy. “Be still and know that I am God.” Psalm 46:10a

        As the waves came in and I got water up my nose I stopped thanking God for that water. Haha.  But then I soon realized how quick I am to thank Him for times of peace and disregard Him in the times of stress.  I can’t just thank God when my life is at peace and then move through my daily life forgetting Him.  “in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.” Proverbs 3:6 When I forget to acknowledge God’s hand in ALL my ways, I lose sight on what really matters. 

Life is more than just sitting and waiting for that wave to come in, it’s falling off and getting back up with the same amount of peace and joy.   Once we put God in all our ways there IS peace in stress, and it feels just like when you catch a wave: TOTALLY STOKED!