“Beware, therefore…”
Acts 13:40
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Fairly quiet day today. Mostly because our power was out for most of the day. This is the second time in a month that we’ve had a planned outage while the power company fixed or maintained something. I was going to go over to my folks’ house in the morning to help my mom with something, but for most of the morning there were about a dozen utility trucks on our street, including one blocking our driveway. So the kids and I adjusted our schedules and concentrated on doing things that don’t require electricity. Like algebra.
Shortly after lunch the trucks were moved, enabling us to leave the house, so the kids and I headed over to my parents’. I let my daughter drive, as she’s still getting experience before taking her driving test sometime in the next few months.
She’s gotten really good at driving. I only find myself making guiding comments like, “I usually stay in the left lane after this intersection, cuz the right lane is more crowded.” Or I might have to remind her that she has right-of-way in a given situation. She’s a thoughtful girl, and has a tendency to let others go first no matter what!
At one point there was a plastic bag or something in the road, and she drove over it, being careful to not run over it with the tires, but instead letting the center of the car pass over it harmlessly. I confessed to her that instead of trying to drive carefully over something, my preference is always to go around it. Often you don’t know exactly what the item is, and you just never know if the item is going to fit completely under the car without hitting the undercarriage.
The reason I’m so cautious is because several years ago, when I was on the freeway, there was a truck in front of me that drove over a board in the road. The board flew up behind the truck, slamming into the grille of my car, damaging the condenser and radiator. Ever since, I’ve been very cautious about driving behind trucks, and about running over things.
The other thing I’m somewhat paranoid about, is parking my car on the street. Several years ago, when my car was only months old, a drunk driver slammed into it, causing $7,000 worth of damage to the driver’s side of the car. Since then, I avoid parking on the street near curves in the road, which is where it was that night.
I have what could be considered an understandable but unreasonable fear about these two incidents repeating themselves in my life. Both events are unlikely to happen again, but I can’t forget about them.
Sometimes incidents in life become good lessons learned. Something we carry with us forever. But other times it’s more of a distraction, keeping us from paying attention to dangers that are more real. I guess that’s where discernment comes in. Or just plain wisdom. Caution without fear, and always open to the Holy Spirit’s guidance.
But of course, always obey all traffic laws, and drive defensively.
Light Expectations 