Wild Ride

At some point in your life you’ve gotten into a car when someone else was driving.  Have you ever done so and didn’t really know the driver and how he drove?  Then, as you’ve ridden as a passenger in the car, you’ve found that maybe the decision not to drive yourself was a poor decision?  You know the kind of ride that I’m talking about, one where you are gripping the handle at the top of the door frame or your arm rest because the driver forgot that you weren’t in a NASCAR race.  Yet, when you first got into the car you had total trust in the driver, didn’t you?  If not, you wouldn’t have gotten in that car, right?

So, we as believers in Christ are asked to trust in Him as passengers in the car of life.  We are told to give Him complete control of our lives and we shouldn’t worry.  Yet, there are times when we start to worry because it seems like His driving is getting a little erratic.  Maybe things in our lives are speeding by us too quickly.  Maybe we feel like we’ve taken a wrong direction and are heading for a dead end.  Yet, through it all, we still have to trust in Him, right?

Today I just wanted to impress upon you the fact that we are in that car with Jesus as the driver.  We don’t have the controls on our side of the car like those student driver instructors do.  We can’t just grab the wheel when we want to or hit the brakes.  We have to have total faith in Him and the direction that He is taking our lives.  It’s not going to be an easy thing to do, giving up that control.  Yet if we do allow Jesus to take the wheel, then we’ll find that we’re at our final destination…Heaven along with all the other passengers that Jesus has brought with Him.

Lights!

Years ago when my kids were first old enough to do it, our family started playing a game we call lights.  What it requires is family members to be in the car, and for Christmas lights to be on at people’s houses as we pass by.  The first person to spot the lights and declare that they’ve seen them gets a point.  Now, frankly we don’t keep score, instead it’s just something fun to do.  It’s something we do as a family, and other than the gas – it costs us nothing.  The thing is, we don’t go out just to play, we play everywhere and anywhere we go when the lights are up this time of year.

Why do I mention this?  It’s because one of my focuses in this blog is helping people with their family lives.  This is something you can do as a family that is cheap and just adds to something you’d already be doing.  The goal should be to keep growing together as a family.

Oh, and I forgot to mention this earlier….once you do this a few times, you don’t need to remember to do it.  The kids will remember.  In fact, not only will they remember the next car ride, but they’ll also remember the next year when the lights come on again.  Kids love this kind of thing, and the fact that you do it together will build a lasting memory that they’ll enjoy for the rest of their lives.  It may even create a family tradition, as it has in my family. 

So what are you waiting for?  It’s time to play LIGHTS!