Driving, A Driving with Anna Devotional
Anna K Payne
Published by AP Creations at Smashwords
Copyright 2010 Anna K Payne
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Table of Contents
Desperate driving, are you late?
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Desperate driving, Are you late?
So many people do desperate driving on a regular basis. It is when you are late getting somewhere or when you need to get to a bathroom right away. In either case, you are the one driving desperately.
It's when you try to shave off corners, time at stop signs and stoplights, and try to hurry along faster than anyone else around you. You will pass them all unless they are desperate drivers too.
What happens to our ability to drive offensively or defensively when we are driving desperately? We think how to get quickly from point A to point B. We may not anticipate other drivers, pedestrians or wandering balls in the streets. We tend to drive faster than the speed limit, cut off other drivers, and generally act selfishly.
Our blood pressure increases, our stress levels increase. We become more irritable and rude. We become angry easier at little things around us.
We lose the opportunity to enjoy the drive, to see the things around us. We don't notice the beautiful clouds in the sky, the mountains in the distance, the strange drivers around us. We miss the moments when God would be speaking to us and telling us He loves us. We miss the moments to really listen to our kids and their friends. We miss the opportunity to smile and spread joy and kindness to those around us.
So, when I catch myself driving desperately, I ask myself, do I really need to be desperate? Or can I relax and enjoy this time? Can I smile and lower my stress level?
And apparently, this morning was not one of those times. But I did make sure to stay at or below the speed limit anyway. And I did stop fully and look for little kids at the stop sign where one desperate driver ran over a kid some months ago.
And, I made it to the bathroom on time.
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Following…
I followed my husband on his still fairly new motorcycle to the shop for its 600-mile checkup and maintenance. The drive takes about 40 minutes down Alton and he was taking it a bit slow so I could keep up. I had plenty of time to notice all the cars trying to go above speed limit and whiz around me to get where they were supposed to be 5 minutes ago.
It reminded me of the differences in the Christian walk. New believers tend to zing here and there, starting and stopping, changing direction, so excited. More mature believers are focused on following Jesus, keeping their eyes on Him and relaxing, enjoying the ride. My small group leader had an opportunity to journey alongside of one of those mature believers when her good friend was dying of cancer. Even through every trial and pain, her friend was full of grace, joy and wisdom.
That sure focus can be ours, if we remember to keep our eyes on Jesus as we journey through this life. If we don't look around and notice everyone passing us, seemingly getting ahead, but continue to follow Jesus, at his pace, his path, his ways. He is our guide. Let's let him do his job and do ours: Follow!
Then the other side of my brain, the part that worries, says what am I going to do? What do I do next? How do I get the [money, relationship, degree, job, home, house, gifts, etc] I need? To that part of me, I read this scripture and remember…
Matthew 6:33
(The Message)
"If God gives such attention to the
appearance of wildflowers—most of which are never even seen—don't
you think he'll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for
you?
What I'm trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God's giving. People who don't know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works.
Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, and God-provisions. Don't worry about missing out. You'll find all your everyday human concerns will be met.
So, my first step is read my bible. My second step is to spend time every day praying. My third step is what? To take care of what is before me. And the fourth step will be that I’ll ask my guide and he will show me.
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Hands Free
Today, the hands free law finally went into effect. I personally saw the beginnings of compliance Monday night when I went to my mobile phone provider. They were packed. There were many people buying hands free devices for their phones. I had had a Bluetooth but it didn’t work that well for me. So I was buying a wired device.
In an attempt to use my phone while driving this morning, I realized a few things. First, you need to practice using your hands free device before getting in the car to drive! This is very important. That way the thing isn’t falling out of your ear and you aren’t trying to shove it back in place. That takes two hands and is even more dangerous than talking with a phone to your ear.