A guest post from my favorite <3
Hello friends <3
I tell you often that I pray and ask God what to write and if I don’t get anything, I pray again and sometimes I just don’t post.
Last night as I was finishing up tasks around here before bed, I prayed about today’s post and felt no response at all. I decided to see what the morning would bring before I opted not to write.
As my better half was leaving for a breakfast meet up with friends this morning, he asked me to check my email and if I felt it was okay, to share the material below.
Oh, it is better than okay.
God answered my prayer in a most delightful way. Enjoy hearing from the desk of Russell Reimer in this beautifully transparent piece he composed last night while I was in the other room, obliviously praying for what God might want you to hear <3
Guest Post by Russell Reimer
I admire my wife’s seemingly unending ability to write quality blog posts on a consistent basis. Her skill set is a perfect match for writing and applying Gods word to the events of her life. Grateful to those of you that encourage her to share the Good News.
She is allowing me to take this opportunity to share a recent event in my life that left me embarrassed and convicted to do better.
We were in a smaller town outside of Peoria recently and on our way home from a junior high track meet. This town has about 15,000 people so it is a good sized community. We had a left a local restaurant and I thought I needed to get directions home and make sure I was headed in the right direction.
We had not been to this town before and had to take a couple of country roads to get to the main highway. So being the transportation guy, I asked Siri for directions.
The problem was that I did this while driving along the busy Main Street of this town.
I suddenly saw the flashing lights of patrol car in my rear view mirror (I had not had this occurrence for many years) and realized that I was the one being pulled over. The policeman had seen me with my cell phone in my hand, speaking into it while driving and decided that I was his target.
He came up to the side of the car and explained to me (and my wife) that their community has Zero Tolerance for using a cell phone while operating a motor vehicle and that he would be issuing me a citation.
While we sat there for an eternity (or so it seemed) as he ran my drivers license and insurance card, I realized that I could have been well on my way if I had just calmly asked Siri for directions while I was sitting in the restaurant parking lot, but instead, I had to be in a hurry and use my cell phone while driving.
I was embarrassed that this happened to me and that I was defenseless. I could not make an excuse and I could not hide my mistake. I had to take my punishment and realize that there are consequences for these types of settings.
We remind our grandchildren that mistakes can happen and that we need to learn from them. There can be a detention, a poor test score, a missed basket on an easy play or a relationship that has been damaged.
What can I do?
I can learn to do better and not be so impatient when trying to utilize technology. I need to learn that I am still work in progress and that God is not done with me yet.
Can I pay the fine? Yes.
Can I be smarter the next time I need directions? Yes.
Can I learn from my mistake ? Yes.
Grateful for a God that will allow each of us a second chance on getting closer to him
Blessings, Russ
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PS! I learned something from our experience. I thought the “Hands free” only applied holding your cell phone to your ear! I am guilty of holding my phone and talking into it daily. This is a wakeup call for me! I also learned as we continued on our way that I actually have a navigation button on the car I can use to assist me….however…all of these things still are a distraction and Russ was right. The best plan is to pull over, pull up the navigation and then proceed.