You should never, no never, not ever attempt to take pictures while driving--it's dangerous. But I just couldn't help myself when I read the bumper sticker on this older model pick up...and traffic was stopped!
I could see the driver's face in his sideview mirror and he looked to be in his late teens. If he's like most teenagers he probably enjoys the freedom of driving his own vehicle and the independence of being able to hang out with his friends. And even though I don't know his dad I know for a fact that his dad has had conversations with him about his driving. "How do you know that, John?" Because his dad devised a clever method of holding his son accountable for his driving. The bumper sticker reads: How's my driving? Call my dad: 555-555-5555 written with a huge black Sharpie! There's a great story sitting in the front seat of this old beater truck! Had he been given a new model truck when he graduated high school but wrecked it because he was driving to impress his buddies? Had he already had too many side of the road conversations with men and women who drive vehicles with blue lights? Or was his dad just proactive in keeping his son accountable for his driving? Regardless, when my boys start driving I may have to get my black Sharpie out! Don't call my dad and tell him I was Pic-ing while driving--it's more dangerous than texting and driving!
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My son Harrisen, who will be in 5th grade this year and who is not the biggest fan of school, can't believe that I'm still choosing to go to school. As I was preparing for yet another trip to Denver Seminary to continue work on my Doctor of Ministry he asked me, "What grade are you in?"
I counted on my fingers starting at twelve and lowered my head and said, "26th grade." Shouldn't I have already learned enough by now? The shallow answer: Yes! The more thoughtful answer: No. I want to follow the wisdom of those further down the road and make learning a lifelong pursuit. Does it cost? Yep! But it is so worth it! I've made some great friends over the years here in Denver from Alaska to Canada to Vermont to Rome (Georgia). I've been pressed to my limits. I've hated writing some papers and meeting deadlines. But it is worth it. "Have compassion for everyone you meet,
even if they don’t want it. What seems conceit, bad manners, or cynicism is always a sign of things no ears have heard, no eyes have seen. You do not know what wars are going on down there where the spirit meets the bone." "Compassion" by Miller Williams, from The Ways We Touch: Poems. © University of Illinois Press, 1997. (From My Utmost for His Highest)
What Do You Want The Lord To Do For You? Is there something in your life that not only disturbs you, but makes you a disturbance to others? If so, it is always something you cannot handle yourself. “Then those who went before warned him that he should be quiet; but he cried out all the more . . .” (John 18:39). Be persistent with your disturbance until you get face to face with the Lord Himself. Don’t deify common sense. To sit calmly by, instead of creating a disturbance, serves only to deify our common sense. When Jesus asks what we want Him to do for us about the incredible problem that is confronting us, remember that He doesn’t work in commonsense ways, but only in supernatural ways. Look at how we limit the Lord by only remembering what we have allowed Him to do for us in the past. We say, “I always failed there, and I always will. ”Consequently, we don’t ask for what we want. Instead, we think, “It is ridiculous to ask God to do this.” If it is an impossibility, it is the very thing for which we have to ask. If it is not an impossible thing, it is not a real disturbance. And God will do what is absolutely impossible. This man received his sight. But the most impossible thing for you is to be so closely identified with the Lord that there is literally nothing of your old life remaining. God will do it if you will ask Him. But you have to come to the point of believing Him to be almighty. We find faith by not only believing what Jesus says, but, even more, by trusting Jesus Himself. If we only look at what He says, we will never believe. Once we see Jesus, the impossible things He does in our lives become as natural as breathing. The agony we suffer is only the result of the deliberate shallowness of our own heart. We won’t believe; we won’t let go by severing the line that secures the boat to the shore—we prefer to worry. I praise You that all I am is Yours. Oh, that I could delight You as the lily does, or the tree, or even the sparrows, just living the life You have granted! |
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