Hi, friends! I haven’t posted on my blog since shortly before my son was born. I have thought of it often and had many ideas or thoughts that I considered worth sharing. I just don’t make the time the way I used to. I absolutely LOVE being a mom and I never want my son to feel like he’s not a priority to me. I know all too well about that, and I’m just extra sensitive about it. I also realized recently that my standards are too high when it comes to my blog. I want to pack each one with scripture and pour loads of time into it so that it shows how much I have thought it through.
Well, anything worth doing is worth doing at all, right? It’s worth starting – getting SOMEthing out there even if it’s not what I could put together in an hour or two… it can be a 15-20 minute reflection and I hope that’s okay. I believe God can use even those brief writings, and certainly more than He can if I keep things in my head the way I have been. I realize that if any of my reflections could encourage or inspire anyone else but I hold back due to perfectionism, I’m being selfish and self-centered about it.
So. My return to blogging. And it’s gonna be simple, folks.
I was driving to work yesterday, praying about some upcoming conversations and decisions. My son was being his usual chipper self, and I had the radio turned down low so that I could focus more on what I was thinking and saying. I don’t get stressed easily, but I was feeling a bit of a weight.
As we crossed over the railroad tracks that we drive over every day, I slowed to look both ways. I always do, even though I know the siren and blocker-things are supposed to clue you in if you actually need to stop. As I looked to my right, down the tracks a little bit was the light of an approaching train. I continued across and thought, “hmm if I had been 30 seconds later, I probably would have needed to wait for that train. I’m glad I didn’t have to!”
And then it hit me.
Not the train haha…
But the realization that nearly every single morning – definitely over 90% or more at a quick guesstimate – I DON’T need to stop at those tracks for a train. It’s not often at all that I actually have to stop at those tracks. That’s probably the case for most of us. More often than not, we don’t need to wait for a train. More often than not, we can just keep cruising along with no major interruption.
So consider this: how often are you consciously thankful for not being held up by a train? And conversely, when you DO need to stop, as infrequently as that may happen, how often do you get frustrated or even angry? If you’re like the majority of humanity, that first figure would be nearer to 0% and the latter closer to 100%… or maybe you’re a saint and that one’s low, too. But I bet percentage-wise, the first % is lower than the second %.
The thing is, trains are SUPPOSED to travel on the tracks. It’s the only place they can go. It’s not like trains just randomly burst onto the road from thickets and forests. We really shouldn’t be all that thrown when once in a while they need to cruise across our path and pause traffic for a moment.
Why do we have the tendency to get upset when inconvenienced, but not an equal or greater tendency to be thankful or grateful when we aren’t? I’m sure someone on the way to the hospital would be thankful for no trains because their awareness is heightened to all the what-ifs. Or someone who faces trains every single day – that person would be very aware and thankful for the days without a train. I know several times I have been in a rush to someplace and been consciously aware and grateful to hit all green lights, without needing to stop. But not so much when things are just ordinary and at regular pace.
What would it be like if our entire mentality was like that? Being thankful for all the things that could be going wrong but aren’t? Maybe that awareness would help us to also be less confused, upset, shaken or thrown off during the times when the train is there. Being conscious that, just as trains are bound to show up on the tracks in front of us sometimes, sin and hardship and tragedy are bound to show up around us because we are living in a fallen world. A world where sin has entered but Jesus has already won us victory. Until He returns, though, there will be some really tough stuff. And stopping for trains.
How we will handle those things? And how will we respond during the days and seasons when things are going well? I hope that no matter which is the case, I will respond with all the more praise and thanksgiving to such a faithful Father.
1 Thessalonians 5:18, HLC
pic from: worldtravelguide.net
sacred strokes 