Something happened this morning that affected me rather profoundly. I was driving my son to preschool, and while passing an intersection in my neighborhood, some guy in a truck started to turn out right in front of me. At the last second, he noticed me and quickly hit his brakes. My immediate feeling was anger towards this jerk who nearly caused an accident. However, in that instant as I drove by, I saw a sheepish grin on his face and his hand raised in apology for his error. All the "mad" immediately oozed out of me, and I wished like crazy that there was some way to let him know that the hostile look he probably saw on my face was completely gone now. He was a nice guy that just made a simple driving mistake on a Monday morning. Since I couldn't do anything to undo my reaction, I prayed for God to bless him. (That was really more like an apology that he would never hear, but I do hope that God really does something great for him.)
He made me realize how much we impact people with our attitude and actions without even knowing it. If he had returned my hateful glare with a scowl of his own, I probably would have gone through my entire morning ticked off. If he did happen to notice my expression, I may have already changed his attitude for the worse as well.
Since there is no rewind or "do-over" in life, I need to try to approach each day with more awareness of how far a small ripple in the pond actually travels.
What I'd Rather Be Doing
About Me
- Dennis Norwood
- Glen Allen, VA, United States
- Madly in love with my wife Monica, love my kids to a ridiculous degree, love my church, have a sarcastic sense of humor that people sometimes get and sometimes don't, have a huge desire to live my life in a way that pleases God, have a huge inability to live up to that desire but God seems to use and bless me anyway and for that I am extremely grateful, am very competitive but not to a degree that makes me unfun to compete against, love what I do for a living, love where I live, and am thoroughly enjoying the hectic, unpredictable, and fulfilling life I've been given.
1 comment:
If we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged. The hardest people to handle are ourselves. How easy it is to see the faults in others that may be found in our own lives. It's like the man who looks at himself in the mirror and walks away, forgetting what kind of man he is!
So often, as I pray that God would convict others about the sin in their lives, I hear a small, still voice reminding me that I may be guilty of the same sin!
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