As recent as last week, I drove with my family through the 395 on my way to the Chewelah SDA Church in beautiful Chewelah, WA. When we arrived to the state of Washington and landed in Spokane, our family was captivated by the natural beauty and peace one can find in this part of American territory.
However, the drive to church that day was not peaceful but stressful for me. It's not that I have never had the experience of driving on winter roads. Or not driving when it starts to snow heavily. I remember a time when in Anchorage Alaska I drove from the city toward my home in Eagle River, AK. That day we had a winter storm. You could not see 5 feet in front of you.
Traffic on the highway was moving very slow for fear of driving into the ditch or something worse, into the other lane of the highway. As I drove that day, I had to stop my car in the middle of the highway and open my door to make sure I was actually driving on the road! It took me more that an hour to get home, what usually takes about 15 minutes.
However, even at that time I was not white-knuckling my way home. I was calm, mainly because I was alone and all I had to worry about was me. But last week, when driving with my entire family, I was nervous. You see, when you have others relying on you for their safety you have a greater burden to carry. But that is actually good. We are living in a society where watching people care for others is an anomaly. It's not as ubiquitous as it was in earlier years.
When you white-knuckle through life, you realize that you are responsible for many lives. You realize the importance of the moment and you become ultra alert as to what could happen to you and the ones you love. Our society has become a place that bewitches the mind into thinking that all is well and there is nothing to worry about. While for the most part this is true, there are influences in our society that are harming our families and friends.
Stop and think for a moment...Is there something in your life that is harming your family, your marriage, your parenting, your ministry, your work? When we live circumspectly and take the time to think, you will find that there are many things that are imperceptibly harming your life. Why not do something today to rid your life of those influences. I don't know what they are for you. But for our family we have started to make changes for the better.
I thought white-knuckling through life was bad because it meant I lived in a state of fear. Now I realize that as I drove through that Washington country road toward church that white-knuckling meant paying close attention to dangers that could hurt the ones I love. If you are a single person, you might be thinking, "I have no one to care for..." Is that really true? Of coarse not. Every person has people that they impact and have some influence over. Therefore, do something today to pay attention that something in your life is not unduly hurting those that you love.
So until the next time, this is Pastor Tello reminding you that: Thought Do Change Lives!