wheels

The family got back into Waco just before dusk last night. We had traveled 2300+ miles in a week going from Waco to Memphis, TN, to Nashville (2 nights) to Albany, GA (2 nights), to New Orleans and then home again...home again.

Lots of car time and wishing to be there already time and hoping the kids will take a nap time. During the trip, the "check engine" light came on twice--once climbing the hills around Chattanooga (with 300 more miles to go that day) and the other as we rolled into New Orleans on Monday. Each time, the car ran fine and the light eventually went off.

I will confess to great anxiety when the light came on. I couldn't take my eyes off of it--it was a harbinger of doom: sitting on the side of a road with young children, waiting for a tow, getting stuck in a town while repairs are made, being at the mercy of a mechanic. Does it sound like I've done this before?!

As I tried to take my eyes and mind off the light, I thought about God giving believers a "check engine" shakeup once in a while. With the light on, I thought of how wonderful it is to have a working machine. I point it in a direction, give it gas and it goes. When it is going, rarely am I thankful; I take it for granted and fail to notice it. On that trip, I gave thanks each time we arrived somewhere. That has continued.

As a believer, maybe I expect it to go well all the time. Maybe I'm surprised when a "check engine" light or some other obstacle appears. Maybe we do that as a church and as the Church. Paul tells us to be joyful in all things. We can be joyful in many things. We usually aren't joyful when the "check engine" light appears; we are usually anxious. Maybe that light is to test our joy.


Recent reading: The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid by C.K. Prahalad; When Helping Hurts: Alleviating Poverty without Hurting the Poor...or Ourselves by Brian Fikkert and Steve Corbett; Christian Worship: Its Theology and Practice by Franklin Seger and Randall Bradley; No Peace without Forgiveness by Desmond Tutu; Evangelism without Additives by Jim Henderson; The Enneagram: A Christian Perspective by Richard Rohr.