Speed, Grace Unmerited and Commitment

So truth be known… I love to drive fast. I think I should have been a race car driver!! When I was a kid, my favorite video game at the arcade was one called “Night Driver” where you sat in this black car and the screen was all black with just white lines for a road path. You got to actually take the wheel and move the gear shifter, use the pedals and everything. You had to keep the car within the lines on the screen and go down the unknown path!! The faster you went, the better your score. I adored that simple game, played it every time we went to the arcade!!

So now, as an adult… I am a speeder. It’s the truth. And I lived in Central America for 6 years which didn’t help anything because driving rules there are merely a suggestion, nothing more. I loved driving there too, because you can do everything you never get to do here in these United States!!

I have been thinking lately, that maybe I should slow down. Basically, because I don’t want a ticket. I found out that here in Washington, if you get a ticket, you can’t go to traffic school to get it off your record like you can do in California.. so I am a bit nervous that there may be extreme consequences if I ever do get a ticket… This being my main motivation… I have been trying to drive the speed limit.

A crazy thing happened a few weeks ago. My sister, nephew and I were driving down to southern Washington for the day and I got pulled over. It floored me. I couldn’t believe it finally happened and in my mind I knew I fully deserved the ticket, 100 times over!! I pulled over and apologized profusely. He asked if we were in a hurry, I said that we weren’t and I just hadn’t noticed my speed. (which was actually true!!) He said I passed him going 77 and in my mind I thought, “Thank goodness, because that’s the mild side of my usual”. So, the heavens parted as he checked my license and registration. After doing so, he looked in at us and said that he was going to let us go, and that we were the first that he had let go with a warning that day.

I was flabbergasted!! Truly. We drove away and I looked at my sister and said, “That was grace unmerited”. I thanked God for days! I am still floored to this day that he let me go.

An interesting thing happened the next day as well. I found myself driving home from somewhere I had been and I was fully relaxed and actually driving rather calmly. It took me by surprise and I began to analyze the situation. After thinking about it… I realized that I think I am a speeder because I am always looking for the next thing. I have been in a hurry my entire life. So I began to wonder why I was just strolling down the road that day. Then it hit me…

I am finally committed. I just took this new job and I am very excited about the possibilities and I am okay with staying put and walking that path. This is way…. way… a new thing for me, and I kinda like it!! I began to thank God for that ticket I didn’t get because it served as a much bigger lesson than the ticket itself would have served. God has an interesting sense of humor. I fully deserved that ticket… But God had the bigger picture to show me. He just needed my attention first.

Speed, Grace Unmerited, and Commitment…. all good things, in their time.

A New Thing

So there’s this new thing that just happened in my life… My church asked me to be their children’s pastor. And after much prayer, and contemplation about committment… I accepted. I can’t believe how excited I am about commitment, now that I have accepted! This concept really blows me away!

Thanks for your prayers as I step out onto a new path. It should be a good journey!