Bad Driving  

 

Real Life Insurance Claims

I had been learning to drive with power steering. I turned the wheel to what I thought was enough and found myself in a different direction going the opposite way.

I pulled away from the side of the road, glanced at my mother-in-law and headed over the embankment.

I knew the dog was possessive about the car but I would not have asked her to drive it if I had thought there was any risk.

Coming home I drove into the wrong house and collided with a tree I haven’t got.

Cow wandered into my car. I was afterwards informed that the cow was half-witted.

I wonder if I am the only one who notices bad drivers.  This morning I get on the freeway and there is a van in front of me.  I am several car lengths behind him so it gives me plenty of time to observe his driving habits. 

First, I notice he had a big dent in the back panel of the van.  Well I know there are a lot of people driving around with dents in their car so I don’t think much of it.  So I let my mind wander on to other things when all of a sudden he bounces off of the retaining wall in the center of the road.  He swerves a little bit then continues driving.  I’m thinking most people would pull over to see what kind of damage was done to the car.  Not this guy.  He just kept on driving. 

At this point I decide to get over in the lane farthest from where he is driving because I am not taking any chances with this guy.  As I drive by I see he has a big dent in the driver’s side of the car.  I pull past him and then he changes lanes and gets behind me.  The first thing that popped into my head is maybe this guy wants a dent on every side of the car so they will all match and since he doesn’t have one in the front maybe he wants to hit me from behind.

I must admit that I started speeding.  I couldn’t get away from this guy fast enough.  Then I look up in front of me and a car crosses two lanes and then pulls over in the median and passes another car in the fast lane in the median. 

This started me thinking, how many times do we pray to God that we will have a safe journey wherever we are going.  The number of times God has saved me in bad driving situations are too numerous to count. God blesses us in the smallest ways every day and sometimes we don’t even realize it.  So today I thank God for the blessing of getting me to work in one piece and not letting that guy driving the dented van use me as a decoration for the front of his car. 

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, there are days when I don’t even remember how I got to work.  I get distracted and I will sit down at my desk and not even remember how I got there. I pray that You will help me to keep my eyes focused on You. Thank you for saving me and protecting me.  
           
Scripture:   Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God;  and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.  Philippians 4:5-7

Work  

God gave us two ends - one to sit on and one to think with. Success depends on which one you use. Head you win, tail you lose. ~Author Unknown

I used to think of work as a means to an end.  If I worked hard at my job I would get paid and then I could provide whatever resources I needed to survive.  The problem with this type of thinking is that I was not working for the right reason.  The other side of this is that it was all about “me”. 

From the beginning of time God created Adam and Eve to work.  They were to tend the Garden of Eden and to spend time with God.  The problem came when they thought they could do it better than God. 

God created each of us with skills and abilities that meet various needs.  Our work is not just a means in which we can earn money to pay the bills or become successful.  Our work should be used as the primary path of our Christian walk where we do good deeds so that others may see God through us. 

We spend the majority of our time at work and opportunities abound to do good works for God in every aspect of our work.  When we do those good works it makes people take notice.  Why?  Because most people will not take the time to do good works because that would take away from their primary goal to make money and become successful. 

So many times we get so involved in what we are doing that we don’t notice the other people around us that might need a helping hand.  I had an incident where an older lady was walking up to the grocery store and I was walking up at the same time.  The grocery carts were a distance from the entrance to the store so as I walked up I asked her if I could get her a basket.  She looked at me as if I had grown two heads.  She didn’t respond and kept walking but at least I knew I had done what God would have wanted me to do.  The thing we need to remember is that we won’t always get acknowledgement for good deeds here on earth.  But the most important One of all knows and that is what makes the difference.

Success to me doesn’t mean how much money I have or the things I own.  Success means doing God’s will and helping others where possible.  True success will come in heaven not here on earth.

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, I want to use the talents you gave me for Your Glory.  In all I do I want to always think of You and what it means for Your Kingdom.  Please always remind me that my work is part of what You created me to do so that others would come to know You.             

Scripture:  For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works. “Assuredly, I say to you, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom.” Matthew 16:26-28

 

Religious  

 

How can the Church be received as a trustworthy guide in the invisible, which falls into so many errors in the visible? ~John W. Draper

We as Christians have a great responsibility to others.  The thing is we will be judged more harshly by others when we claim Christianity. 

I had a conversation last week that stopped me in my tracks.  I was talking to a gentleman and had asked him what he was doing for Thanksgiving.  He explained that he was going to spend it with his wife.  I asked if he had any other family and he told me his wife had a sister but they didn’t get along.  He told me she was very religious and that her children were also.  He said when they got together on rare occasions, he always felt judged so they didn’t enjoy spending time with them. 

This started me thinking about our lives as Christians.  We walk a very fine line because we will be judged more harshly by non-Christians just because of our faith.  It also means that we have to be more careful in the life we lead on earth. 

When he made the comment I was speechless.  I wasn’t really sure how to respond.  I wanted to proclaim my faith but I was unprepared to respond in a way that would draw him closer to faith and not push him further away.  It is a question I often ask myself.  How do you draw others to Christ without turning them off completely? 

I think the answer lies somewhere between what we say and how we live.  If we don’t live every day reflecting the Christian life that God expects, then how will be prove to someone who is not a Christian, that there is another better life. 

I admit I struggle with this every day and pray that I will be prepared with an answer the next time that issue comes up. 

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, I am sometimes speechless when someone comments about Christians judging other non-believers.  I want to draw them to You but sometimes I don’t know how to answer.  I pray that You will give me the words to say but also let my actions in my daily life always reflect what a true Christian should be.              

Scripture:  I thank my God, making mention of you always in my prayers, hearing of your love and faith which you have toward the Lord Jesus and toward all the saints, that the sharing of your faith may become effective by the acknowledgment of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus. For we have great joy and consolation in your love, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed by you, brother.  Philemon 1:4-7

Distraction  

We need to find God, and he cannot be found in noise and restlessness. God is the friend of silence.  See how nature - trees, flowers, grass - grows in silence; see the stars, the moon and the sun, how they move in silence.... We need silence to be able to touch souls. ~Mother Teresa

Do you ever get so distracted and do things repetitively so much so that you do something stupid?  I do.  Last night I decided to get my coffee pot ready before I went to bed.  I normally get up every morning at 5:00 and get my coffee pot ready, but I decided I would save some of my morning time and do it the night before. 

Well I must have been distracted, because this morning when I got up to turn on the coffee pot, I lifted the lid where the grounds go and there were none.  So my mind immediately goes to “I know I did this last night.  I know my husband didn’t touch it because he doesn’t drink coffee and the dog can’t reach the coffee pot so it wasn’t him." 

I decided to check the trash.  Last night I ground the coffee, placed it in the filter placed it in the container that holds the filter and then I proceeded to throw it in the trash.  I don’t even remember doing it. 

There are times that I do this very same thing with God.  I get distracted by the things of this life and I will get to church and instead of paying attention to the message I will start thinking about all of the things that need to be done when I leave church.  Instead of worshiping the Father, I worship the things of this life. 

I have learned that I need a place that is totally silent for me to meditate on what God wants to teach me.  I can’t play music because that distracts me, and I certainly can’t watch TV.  I have to remove myself from all of the distractions around me to totally focus my attention on the One who created me. 

I also learned that you have to pick your place of solitude.  My time is in the morning when I get to work.  There are few people in the office and very little noise.  It gives me a solid hour of time to just think and meditate on God’s Word.  If you have never spent quality time with God, pick a place.  Talk to Him.  Listen for His voice.  You will be amazed at what you hear.

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, I am often distracted by the things in this life.  It can be something minor that can take my attention away from you.  Please forgive me for not giving you my undivided attention.  I want to build my personal relationship with you and I can’t do that if I am constantly thinking about the next thing I need to do.             

Scripture:  Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer.  Psalm 19:14

Discouragement  

 

Do not take anything for granted — not one smile or one person or one rainbow or one breath. ~Terri Guillemets

One of the things I love about my husband is he has a big heart.  His occupation requires a big heart.  He sells durable medical equipment.  Their company specializes in motorized wheel chairs, sip and puff machines and regular wheel chairs.  One of the things that I appreciate about his company is that the owner and many of the executive staff are in wheel chairs.  That is their means of mobility. 

Sometimes my husband gets discouraged because when he sells a complicated wheel chair that can provide mobility to a patient who otherwise would be bedridden, Medicare will not pay or it takes them 60 to 90 days to get paid. 

This weekend, the day before Thanksgiving to be exact, Jerry received a voice mail from a patient.  When Jerry first met this patient he lived in a local facility with his wife.  They were both in motorized wheelchairs.  The gentleman and his wife lived in a single room at the facility.  His wife had to have constant oxygen to survive. 

When the wife’s wheelchair would have issues as would often happen, she would call Jerry.  Jerry would drive out to the facility and repair her chair or bring parts from their warehouse to fix the problem.  He didn’t get paid for the trips it was just his big heart at work.  Jerry would tell me that she delivered the mail to all the residents in the facility.  He would always take the time to sit and visit with them.

He told me he wanted to get a flag for her wheelchair and some flag stickers to go on her chair so that everyone would know when the mail was coming.  Unfortunately he never got to do that.  Her husband called and left Jerry a voice mail that she had passed away in October.  He called to tell Jerry how much he had touched her life by his visits. 

When Jerry got home that evening he let me listen to the voice message.  We were both blubbering fools.  He and I sat there and cried together.  I thought of how truly blessed we are and we talked about how we tend to take things for granted such as having the ability to walk. We talked about how just when we get discouraged, how God often sends a profound message to encourage us to keep going. 

This was a rather emotional week for us.  We also had a good friend, a Dallas police officer, who died in a car accident on Saturday coming home from a Thanksgiving visit with his family.

Don’t take the important things for granted.  I plan on slowing down and taking the time to give thanks to God for his many blessings.  Breathing, seeing, hearing, loving, life, family, friends….        

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, we often get discouraged with this life on earth.  I know you are the Giver of all things but often I don’t appreciate it.  You give me blessings beyond measure.  Please help me to keep my eye on You and remember from whom the blessings come.  You are my Rock and Redeemer and I praise Your Holy Name.    
         
Scripture:  Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.  For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls.  Hebrews 12:1-3

Bumper Stickers and Such  

Assumptions are the termites of relationships. ~Henry Winkler

I am beginning to think I spend too much time on the road.  I was driving home this week and when you stop at a lot of red lights on the way home you have plenty of time to observe what other people stick on their vehicles. 

I have never been a bumper sticker person.  My thought has always been what happens when I decide to sell my car.  Will someone else want all the declarations that I pasted on my car? 

Anyway, I get behind this truck and I start reading the stickers on the windows, bumper and tailgate.  You can tell a lot about a driver by what they stick on their car.  From observing the stickers this guy was a United States Marine, the sticker with USMC on it told me that along with the marine sticker.  He was also a deer hunter, hence the sticker with a deer head on it.  He had a license plate frame with skulls all around it. I really don’t want to know what that means.  There was an Ole Miss sticker and a sticker of the state of Mississippi with Sycamores on it.  I am guessing that there is a school in Mississippi with a Sycamore Mascot, the fighting trees.  At another light I saw another truck that was jacked up high and had one of the new black and white Texas license plates.  I am not sure if this was a vanity plate or just the letters the state picked for this guy but it read XXLDDS.  I am thinking he is an extra, extra, large dentist but I don’t think I will ask him. 

All of this started me thinking. We make a lot of assumptions about people and each other just by appearances and even the bumper stickers on cars.  It always seems to surprise us when we really get to know people.  Many times the assumptions we made along the way are not what the person is all about.  I think God created us for relationship with each other.  We can’t be in relationship with each other if we are making the wrong assumptions about them.  For all I know the guy driving the truck with all the stickers may have borrowed the vehicle from his son.  Why do we assume we know something about someone just by looking at the external without getting to know the internal?  How many times do we assume the person we work with didn’t speak to us because they don’t like us, or are mad at us or have something against us?

One of the nicest and sweetest people I work with didn’t speak to me when I first started working at my new job.  Later I found out that she was working partial days because her husband is gravely ill.   Sometimes God decides to give us a sucker punch just when we need it.  
        
Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, I often make assumptions about people just by looking at them. Please help me to see the person You created.  Help me to see the heart and character of the person and not make assumptions based on the external.  The majority of the time my assumptions are wrong and how can I love that person as You do if I don’t set my assumptions aside.  Thank You for Your everlasting love for me a sinner and show me how to love others unconditionally.    
       
Scripture:  Little children, I shall be with you a little while longer. You will seek Me; and as I said to the Jews, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come,’ so now I say to you.  A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” John 13:33-36

The Gross Factor  

 

To bring up a child in the way he should go, travel that way yourself once in a while. ~Josh Billings

I was able to get the opportunity to have dinner with my Mom and Dad and two nephews last night.  I had a blast.  They are these 15 and 16 year old handsome, 6 feet tall guys who amaze me every time I see and spend time with them.  One of them still enjoys messing with me by trying to hide and sneak up on me.  The other just loves to give great big bear hugs.  With him you know when you have been hugged. 

I never had children of my own but I had plenty of child psychology in college so I learned a great deal about children and why they do things.  Have you noticed how teenagers will test you to see how you will react?  Sometimes it is just to see how far they can go but at other times it really is just to see if you will accept them as they are.

Last night one of the boys turned to the other and told him his pizza looked like baby puke.  This is what I call the gross factor.  They want to see what kind of reaction they will get from the adults but have you figured out that this is also a test. This particular pizza was spinach cheese pizza.  I admit I also had a slice of the same pizza on my plate.  The thing is teenagers want to be accepted and many times adults tell them that this is unacceptable behavior instead of really seeing where they are coming from.  After the baby puke comment I reached over to my plate and picked up my baby puke pizza and told them I kinda like baby puke pizza too. 

How many of us have figured out that this is a test for us as adults?  When you sometimes allow yourself to get on their level it builds trust.  With trust comes confidence and with confidence comes communication.  So when it comes time for my nephews to share something really important that is going on in their lives they are not afraid to talk to me about it because I didn’t wig out over baby puke pizza.    

I know when I was a kid I had my gross factor moments because that is what teenagers do.  They try to gross each other out.  Why do we grow up and forget that we were once a child who did things wrong and made our parents want to pull their hair out?  We forget that we were once the child that our children are today. 

Here is my advice for what it is worth.  (FREE).  Children are going to do things that in fact do need discipline.  But choose your discipline wisely, because the last thing you want to do is create distrust in them where they will not come to you with the really important things.  The disciples rebuked Jesus because he got on the children’s level.  God calls us to humble ourselves as children otherwise we will not enter heaven.  That gets my attention.        

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, I want to be able to relate to children.  They are the most important legacy for any parent.  I pray that I can discern when I need to discipline them and when I just need to get on their level to see the child I used to be. I pray that you will make me humble as a little child so that I can enter Your kingdom.      

Scripture:  Then Jesus called a little child to Him, set him in the midst of them, and said, “Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.  Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 18:2-4

Tablet Splitter

As you reach for understanding, you find that your ladder of facts isn't long enough, and you try to extend it by adding a rung of faith.  Eventually you see that the task is hopeless, and you put away your ladder of facts and go get a ladder of faith.  ~Robert Brault

I received a card in the mail from my insurance company.  I probably shouldn’t have been reading it at 5:00 in the morning because I had to read it several times to get it.  On the front of the card in big letters it said “Stop Throwing Money Away.  Well that got my attention. In these difficult times who doesn’t want to save money.

So I open the card and it tells me that I am throwing money away by not splitting my medication.  What does that mean?  It goes on to show me diagrams and pictures of how I will save.  If I contact my doctor and get a new prescription for a larger dosage but fewer pills I could “potentially” save half off the prescription price of the full number of tablets at a smaller dosage.  I hope I haven’t lost you yet.  

How long do you think it will take the pharmaceutical companies to figure out that I am getting the same dosage in smaller quantities and jack the price per pill up.  I am going to get on my soap box here for a moment.  I am really tired of paying $10-$20 per pill for something that is supposed to lower my blood pressure when the very idea of paying that much for one pill raises my blood pressure.  Then I started thinking about how every morning I would need to break out the cutting board to cut my pills in half so I don’t overdose.  Then I read the fine print.  “Only split tablets with a device specifically for that purpose. Follow the instructions provided with your tablet splitter.”  Now I need to buy a “tablet splitter” for accuracy.

I think I need a new strategy.  If I get up at 4:00am and run around the neighborhood for free, lower my blood pressure and cholesterol so I don’t need the medication, (as long as I don’t run by the donut shop first) maybe I can cut my medication to “none” and save money at the same time.

Here are several questions?  Did God intend for us to prolong our lives with medications in the first place?  I struggle with this because if I think about it, why do I want to prolong my life here.  There is a much better place in eternity where I will not need the medications that keep me alive here on earth. Is this just our human need for longevity or our families unwillingness to let us go?  Are we essentially searching on earth for the very thing we lost in the Garden of Eden, eternal life? The reality is when the end comes no medication on earth will save us.  Only God can do that. 

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, I struggle with questions about life.  I pray for Your wisdom, but most of all I pray for peace.  Peace in knowing that You know what is best for me and faith to understand that I may never understand this side of heaven. You are a wondrous God and I praise you for your grace and mercy over me.  

  

Scripture:  I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better.  I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe.  That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.  And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is hi
s body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way. Ephesians 1:17-23