Restless in the car

No talking. Waking up at 6:00 on a Saturday morning was not what I wanted to do. But finally I interrupted our quiet in the car to acknowledge my bad attitude and to say I was asking the Lord to change me. My selfishness didn’t feel good. In fact, it made me quite restless. Our drive to church was for an occasion I usually love, and shortly after my prayer, the Lord did return the joy. It was opportunity to worship with the community and offer food and clothes, and He poured blessing into those nooks and crannies where I’d allowed selfishness to reside. I had wondered what stories to share with the congregation that morning, and as we sang “Seek Ye First,” the Lord reminded me of one of His real-life lessons on priority. I had stared at a high pile of school papers to grade, yet when I surrendered my red pen in order to spend time with Him first, He seemed to speed up the grading later on. It was a perfect story to share with the song lyrics. The next blessing came in the form of a Korean lady speaking English. She courageously spoke in her new language to share her love of the Lord, and in the process she encouraged my use of Spanish. Soon I found myself inviting to church a jewelry store owner and a Supercuts stylist, and I stood amazed all over again at how the Lord seemed to let the Spanish words roll from my tongue. Then still another blessing came when the Lord showed me what to write next in my blog. I routinely ask Him what to write for you as readers, and on this occasion I’d felt devoid of ideas. Yet He reminded me about last week’s concert, which became Monday’s blog entry. With each blessing, the Lord layered for me a new humility. Selfishness had invited me to pout, and I had accepted the offer, yet the Lord ultimately won. And driving home we became a noisy car rattling to tell about the Lord.