Speed bumps - Newspaper article for this week

Here's this weeks article for our local paper. Enjoy.


Speed bumps

On this journey we call life; one thing is not only for certain, but a guarantee. That is…we will encounter life’s little troubles. Some of them are major redirections, while others only slow us down, like speed bumps. How we handle these troubles usually determines which kind they are.

We had an incident the other day. A young man slid off the road and ended up smashed into our church building. No one was seriously hurt, but there was a lot of damage. People usually react in hostility when they feel someone has wronged them in some way. For instance, have you ever seen an accident where one driver is in an irate storm and screaming at the other? We can take these times of trouble and dwell on the negative and become redirected. Or, we can treat them like speed bumps…minor inconveniences’ that slow us down but not off course.

In our case, no one was present at the time of the accident. But upon the news, the leaders rallied the troops, did an assessment, called the necessary people, and began to make needed repairs to open the church. Life must go on. Church was scheduled to open later that evening and did so on time.

The nice young man did stop by to apologize for the damage he had caused, which gave us the opportunity to do one of two things; play the blame game and act like the irate driver mentioned above, or make sure he was okay and use this opportunity to show kindness. He unwillingly touched our church family, but in doing so became the object of our family’s prayers.
Christ didn’t come to save church buildings, but to change people’s lives. God is more concerned about our character than our circumstances. If we can affect this young driver and show him kindness, than this opportunity is a blessing not one of life’s troubles, just a speed bump.

Lord,
We pray for this young man and his family. Let this Christmas season touch him with the kindness only you can provide. Show light into his life and peace into his heart. Touch his body and heal the aches and pains. We are thankful for this opportunity to have met him and to pray with him. We are thankful for the speed bump. In Jesus name… Amen



Kevin

Remember Look up, Live life, and be Thankful