OK everybody, this post might be a little too real. So I apologize in advance to anyone who may be offended. 😀

 

I’m at that age… you know that womanly age where hormones are my worst enemy- and my husband’s worst enemy… and pretty much everyone in my path’s worst enemy. Even my doctors are having a hard time figuring out my hormones. They did some bloodwork and called me sheepishly saying, “We think the lab made a mistake because there’s no way your hormone levels could be so off. Will you please come in to repeat the tests?” Guess what? The second time the results were identical, making me their most hormonal challenge in awhile- possibly ever.

 

This in itself would be enough for any woman (and her husband and everyone in her path) to deal with in a day, but wait-there’s more!

 

One of the greatest frustrations of moving to Fort Lauderdale (and there have been a few) has been driving in South Florida traffic. Who knew so many terrible drivers could gather in one 3,000 square mile area? Our first year here, we lived in Fort Lauderdale and worked in the middle of Miami. This twice-a-day drive provided some of the most nerve-wracking moments of my life. Nothing makes you pee in your pants a little like a full-size SUV flipping end over end in your lane just three cars ahead. ‘Nuff said.

 

So now imagine combining these two proverbial thorns in my side- bad drivers who endanger everyone on the road, and raging hormones—a whole different brand of road rage I’m thinking.

 

I’m so thankful to now be working at a job that’s just 15 minutes from our house. No more nerve-wracking, life-threatening drives to the 3-0-5. However, there are still plenty of things that vex me as I drive to work every day. I’m blaming it all on my hormones, like my husband does. (Did I mention he’s the most patient, long-suffering husband eh-ver?)

 

Jesus says in Matthew 5:21-22 that even if you call someone an idiot it’s as if you’ve committed murder. If that ever literally manifested, half of South Florida would drop dead- maybe more.  I have to confess I was driving to work one day, in a really good place, and then, the next few moments went something like this: “We fall down, we lay our crowns at the feet of Jesus. And we cry holy, holy, holy; and we cry… YOU IDIOT! Why are you going 45 in the express lane?!?” Am I proud of this? No. But the only way to keep it real is to confess our sins one to another. 🙂

 

 

I have become very fluent in the language of the horn. Two short taps is a friendly beep; it means “hey, I need to get your attention.” This might happen at a stoplight when someone doesn’t move immediately as the light turns green, or if by some miracle, another driver (probably someone who just moved here from the Midwest) lets you switch lanes right in front of him.

 

Then there’s the little bit longer two honks. This means, “pay attention, dude!” and is for someone who is checking Facebook at the green light and still hasn’t noticed the light has turned, or perhaps pedestrians who are not paying attention and make you have to slam on your brakes in a parking lot. Then there’s the 1 long blast- the longer the better. This is reserved for those who pull out in front of you, just barely avoiding a scrape, those who drift over without checking their blind spots, someone going way too fast… you get the idea.

 

My children laugh at me because every time I’m talking to them on the hands-free on my way home from work they hear at least one long blast. Yes- people are constantly pulling in front of you, drifting over into your lane, or just not seeing you altogether. It happens almost every day- and that is not an exaggeration.

And can I just take a second to talk about merges? I have several on my route to work and back. Merging doesn’t seem like such a hard concept to me. This lane goes, and then that lane goes, and we keep taking turns. If this is done smoothly, traffic doesn’t even have to slow down that much. But here, there are those who act like every merge is a surprise and then a frantic scramble. There are those who feel the need to slam on their brakes as the merge is happening. There are those who are too impatient (or I can think of other words) to wait their turn so they drive up on the shoulder and try to get a better “slot.” There are timid mergers- I often seem to get behind these. They don’t merge with purpose and therefore, upset the turn-taking. They hesitate, letting 3 cars go in front of them and ruining my chance for a good merge. Does this make anyone else mad?!?!

 

OK- deep breath. Where’s the beauty in the between in all of this? It doesn’t sparkle as brightly as other topics perhaps, but after living in Florida for 22 months, we can say that we’ve had no serious accidents. There is no explanation for that except God’s provision of safety in our lives. We’ve had so many close calls and “just missed its.” Our cars are no longer dent or scrape free, but that’s South Florida living. J

 

Here’s a thought, friend: if God can keep us accident-free for two years here, what can He do in your life? Do you need a sense of security and safety tonight? My God Elohim which means power, sovereignty and faithfulness, is standing with you. Ask Him to draw near. Not only is He God Elohim, but He is Jehovah Shalom- our God of peace.

 

If there’s one thing I need in my life right now it’s more of that Shalom peace, the peace that passes understanding. Because you know what? I often don’t understand! Knowing God’s peace means that I don’t have to understand- I simply have to trust. Are you with me?

 

Heavenly Father, you are so good to us—even when we’re feeling or acting out of control. Lord, tonight we declare that we are under Your control, under the influence of the Holy Spirit. Help us to find that place where we can rest in your peace—where we give up trying to understand and we give up our right to be right. We surrender it all to you tonight, Lord. We know you are faithful and true. We thank you now for the way you will be working in our lives, ever drawing us closer to you. Amen.