Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Lessons from an Ice Storm


Friday morning I left Wal Mart (see previous post) and attempted to head for my mom’s with her groceries. That’s when the “fun” began. A little backdrop here. I left my house at approx. 6:50 AM. The last thing I heard on the news was that it was pretty bad out there and anyone who needed to go out should be extremely careful. OK, duely noted, and away I went. In the time I spent at Wal Mart, and waiting to get into Wal Mart (see previous post) a state of emergency was called, and with good reason. In fact the entire Indiana Toll Road was closed for about 3 hours.
As I approached the “hill” or “pit” on old 20 (locals know what I am talking about.) I was flagged down and told to not go that way as about 20 car had piled up at the bottom due to the ice. “Ok, no problem I’ll just swing through the neighborhood, back past Wal Mart and go around on level terrain.” I forgot the hill (not near as big as the one on 20, but big enough) at the back of the neighbor hood. As I crested the hill in question I saw two cars stuck at the bottom. I couldn’t stop and wound up near the bottom of the hill. After several attempts at both ends of the hill, and about a half hour, I realized I wasn’t going anywhere until some of that ice melted.
Man that burned me up. I had about 75 5htings that I needed to get done before going to our family Christmas weekend and sitting someplace not being able to go was NOT one of them. Fortunately I got stuck almost right in front of some friends’ home. They took pity on me and took me in. God used those two hours to sow me/ remind me a few things:

1. All my plans really don’t mean much. I am subject to circumstances I cannot control
2. God kept me from harm and property damage in a pretty cruddy weather situation
3. Relationships are WAY more important than “to dos”
4. I don’t prioritize very well
5. God will use bad situations to create positive outcomes (we just have to look)

These are the things that I need to resolve to look at in 2009… Am I where God wants me, doing what He wants me to do, and is my life pointing others His way. The rest is just details.

No comments: