Pause & Pray

 

I saw an interesting billboard the other day. It was one of those new fangled digital ones where the message doesn’t stay there for more than ten seconds.  It said, "Pause & Pray" and then the picture changed I couldn't see what it was telling us to pause and pray for.  But then I thought it really didn't matter what I paused and prayed for as long as I did it!

There are a lot of things to pause and pray for today as I write this. Horrific tornadoes swept through our part of the country four days ago leaving death and destruction for over two hundred miles.  I realize my husband and I have been pausing and praying each evening as we watch the reports on the news. Seeing the destruction just breaks my heart and we hold each other's hands and pray for all the families affected by these storms and realize how narrowly we missed experiencing them by only a few miles.

So I thought what an excellent message for a billboard by a busy intersection that way.  While you sit at the red light, why not pray? It beats loosing your patience waiting in line or worrying about getting hit by a red light runner.

I was talking with my life mentor last Saturday, also known as the pastor in the confessional, discussing my failure at curbing my temper among other things. I told him my biggest temptation was while I was driving. Honest to goodness if I could just jump up and fly like a bird to my next destination I swear I wouldn't lose my temper, patience or freak out in anxious worry about the driving conditions I meet each and every day.  He correctly pinned my problem on fear.  I am fearful while I drive because I worry about my family and friends out driving among some really selfish souls who are oblivious to other drivers.   I am by no means a perfect driver myself but my goodness I think I remember most of the rules of the road like not running a red light, signaling for quick turns and not racing around the side of another vehicle because you can't wait your turn.

After talking with Father I began brainstorming on ideas to help me stay calm while drive.  So after seeing the billboard today I got the idea to make myself a hang tag for my car.  I'm going to try it out and see if it helps!  If it does the rest of my family may get one and maybe, just maybe, instead of getting mad while sitting in my car, I'll just wave at my car neighbor, roll down my window and pass along a hangtag for them too!