Though we have had very little rain/snow since yesterday, when I opened my front door at 6:45 this morning, everything was especially shimmery, shiny and slick. Wearing my favorite, but not-so-weather-appropriate, winter shoes [moccasins] I made my way down the slope of the driveway to start my car and let it warm up.
Like I said, the snow has been around for so long that I've gotten used to it. Hence, the decision to wear moccasins. No big deal, right? I'm an old pro at this winter weather business.
Wrong, apparently.
I slid around a little bit, which made me smile. (I appreciate a good challenge.)
I made it about five steps farther when I slipped so bad I fell backwards - and luckily caught myself with my hands rather than my bum. That one made me laugh out loud. (I'm not quite sure why I found these things so hilarious this morning.) I kept going, but moved with slower, more sure footsteps and calculated balance.
Then came the real test: driving.
The only good thing about my car (besides the fact that it runs, for now), is that a friend let me use her snow tires this winter. Again, I'm pretty used to driving in the snow and such because it has lingered for so long.
But after sliding down my driveway on my own two feet, I wasn't really sure how the driving attempt would go...
Fine.
It was completely fine.
I barely slid the whole way to work.
When I got to work my boss asked how the roads were.
"Oh, driving was fine... it was walking I seemed to have trouble with!"
Isn't it maybe slightly humorous that I struggled and stumbled over the most basic task (walking), but the more difficult task (driving) was simple and smooth as can be?
Hmm. I see a correlation to life here.
How often do we get hung up on the little things?
To take that concept even a little further, if my legs had slipped out from under me and I lost my balance completely and fell with a smack to the icy pavement... that would have caused a lot more problems. One simple, quick decision to wear moccasins, to walk down the driveway instead of trudging safely through the snow in the yard, and walking a little to quickly and haphazardly for the icy conditions... they could have led to something more serious than a little sliding that only made me laugh.
So many times we allow "little" thoughts to slip into our minds and set up camp or "little" feelings to creep into our hearts and wreak havoc.
They don't start out as huge catastrophes, like crashing a car on the ice... just little, tiny, fleeting thoughts, like slippin' around on the ice in moccasins.
Maybe it's just a little bit of envy.
I wish I had a house like that.
I wish I had that car.
I wish I was in a relationship with a man/woman who cherished me.
I wish my bank account was brimming over with extra money for ski trips, school fees, textbooks, dinners out, giving awesome birthday presents, visiting my brother and sister-in-law, etc.
I wish everything I wanted to do in a week actually fit into the seven day period allotted.
[So many wishes, leads to discontentment, which leads to an UN-enjoyed life.]
Those sneaky little thoughts creep in and can reap major consequences.
Maybe it's just a little bit of worry.
How will I pay bills this month?
How will I ever get everything done that I need to do?
If I don't pass this test, then I won't pass this class, then I won't graduate from college.
What if 'they' think I'm just not good enough?
[So much worry, leads to insecurity, which leads to an UN-enjoyed life.]
... I think I see a pattern here.
It's not the UN-enjoyed life that leads to insecurity/worry or discontentment/envy. It's the opposite. It's the little things that we tend to get all tripped up on. Just like the ice on the driveway - no big deal compared to driving the car; but clearly caused greater problems.
There must be something to all those little things. I bet if you look at a life that is un-enjoyed, you will eventually come across something "little" that took root and grew into something big and out of control. We best be on guard and watch for those things.
"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."
Hebrews 12:1-2
"Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour."
1 Peter 5:8
"This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you:
God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin."
1 John 1:5-7
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