First Church of God

 It’s one of those mornings where you just feel rushed, like you don’t even want to take the time to scrape jack frost off your windshield.  The inner voice that warns me is temporarily silenced by my busy mind, thinking through the day ahead.  So even though my windshield is clear, my mind is not yet defrosted. I don’t think to do the breathing prayer this morning as a I drive along Red Arrow Highway.  Half way to work I turn right onto hilltop and immediately notice the flashing red railroad crossing lights.  I quickly make a left into that new Mexican restaurant, and whip around to Red Arrow; taking the back way to work that has a bridge over the tracks.  I’m proud of myself for thinking quickly and avoiding that mess.   I plunge into the piles on my desk, and 15 minutes later Candi, my wife, walks in.  (Did I tell you, she works across the hall from me).  She’s telling me how frustrating it was to get stuck by the slowest, longest train ever.  Ha, she got caught by the train that I cleverly avoided.  But as her story continues, I realize that I was the one who missed out.  While waiting for the train, she took out her devotion book, and discovered the day’s thought… silence and solitude.  She takes a deep breath and enjoys a ten minute pause with God.  I think about how much I love the rhythmic click clack sound of a train moving on tracks.  Wow.  I missed the train. 

What if the very things we try so hard to avoid are actually meant to be gifts from God?  Lord, help me remember to scrape the ice off my eyes and defrost my mind so I take notice of your flashing red interruptions.