And if that weren't enough reason, there's the simple fact that my budget has little room for a speeding ticket - and if I'm already in a hurry, stopping to get that ticket I can't afford would waste more time than going five miles per hour slower.
Thus, I keep it slow and steady.
For the record, I was not always this way. There was a certain time I was much less cautious with the gas pedal. Like the time I made the drive from St. Louis, MO to Shawnee, OK, a drive that will take eight hours if one follows the limits precisely and makes only one necessary fuel stop, in less than six hours. I may have waited to let my mom know I'd made it safely until I'd been there a couple of hours - and when I called, believing I'd just arrived, she may have said, "Wow, that was quick." Um, yeah . . . (This is the first she's heard of this, by the way - sorry, Mom).
So, anyway, that was the old me. Today, the new me was making the hour drive to our midwives for my six-week post-partum visit in our Cavalier whose cruise control is sketchy at best, trying to set the control to where the two numbers on my GPS, the ones that indicate my speed in comparison to the local limit, would match precisely, after about ten attempts, I gave up, before realizing it apparently had set at some point. And I was now going consistently 2mph above the speed limit.
Now, to most people this wouldn't be a big deal. And I really tried to convince myself it wasn't. But, I know going a couple of miles over while passing or when I lose track of what I'm doing here and there is an entirely different matter than purposely telling my car to stay above the limit for a prolonged period of time.
And I felt that nudge. The nudge that says, "Do what you know is right." That Holy Spirit nudge.
And I tried to reason with it, "It's just 2mph and this cruise control is SO obnoxious to re-adjust, surely just this once it'll be alright." But I couldn't shake the feeling. So I sadly pressed on the brake to re-set my speed. After another five tries, I was set - 70mph, nothing more, nothing less.
About 30 seconds later, I was passed, just barely, by a pick-up, surpassing my speed only slightly. Following just behind was a black and white SUV. Just as the thought occurred to me that this resembled a police car, I noticed the shield on the door, State Trooper. And just as I noticed that, I noticed the red and blue lights beginning to flicker.
The Trooper was pulling over this truck who was going just barely over the speed limit. Right next to me.
That could have been me, wasting time I didn't have to get a ticket I couldn't afford, had I not been obedient to my convictions and the prompting of the Holy Spirit - to follow the speed limit, no less.
It's always good to have a reminder that sometimes when it seems so easy to let something slide - something that seems so insignificant - there are reasons we are nudged and there are reasons we have been called to live a life purposed for His calling.
206. 11am: A GPS that knows where it's going, and an unplanned drive in the country.
207. 2pm: An exhausted girl telling me she'd rather take a nap than keep playing.
208. 6pm: A weight lifted through the easy return of a dresser we thought was a lost cause.
209. A reminder to dream in "And the Angels Were Silent" by Max Lucado.
210. A sleep-trained child, napping in his own crib.
211. A husband taking over the leadership I have so often clung to.
My Life: My Favorite Shoes
My Ssekos, I love them so much, I've even blogged about them on my deals site. They're amazing. Just sayin'.
No comments:
Post a Comment