Monday, February 7, 2011

Driving Life Too Fast

When people drive, they usually drive as fast as they can (without getting caught of course) to their next destination. I'm guilty of this exact thing and probably so are you. What happens when we drive fast to get somewhere? Simple answer, we miss out on all the little details and journey's we could have seen or taken along the way. The same is true in our daily lives. We wake up first thing in the morning and are on a mad dash to make breakfast, get the kid(s) ready for school, kiss the spouse and jump in our cars to drive as fast to work as we can. This happens 5, 6 or even 7 days out of the week. We hardly ever take the time to slow down to see which direction they are driving their life.
God has really been working my heart over the last few months and telling me that I'm driving life too fast. He's been telling me to slow down, take a look at the direction my family members are driving in. I'm always in a rush to get things done and I'm not taking the time to slow down to soak in all the little details happening around me. Of course there are always memories...
Yesterday I was holding my newborn son in the hospital watching a Georgia Bulldawgs football game. I held him tight in that little blanket and explained the differences between the offense and the defense. He sat in my arms the entire game and we watched Georgia beat South Carolina together in that hospital room.
Today he came home from school, gave me a fist bump and was telling me everthing he had learned in class. He needed some help writing a one page essay on simple tools used around the house. He's now in the fourth grade, ten years have passed since we celebrated that Bulldawg victory.
I met this amazing girl yesterday at school, her name is Angie Hayhome. She loves doing the same things I do - going to drive-in movies, going to dirt track races, etc. The crazy thing is she is only 15, I hope her mom and dad approve of me, because I am just a little bit older than her. But maybe we will get married someday.
I kissed this awesome and amazing woman goodbye this morning before she went to work. Her name is Angie (Hayhome) Cain. She loves doing the same things I do - raising our ten year old son together, serving at a church together, tithing together, watching movies together and having Christ at the center of our family together. She is my wife of 15 years (we've been together for 18).
Yesterday my little brother Brian and I were playing in the snow in upstate N.Y. We were building snowmen and igloos in the front yard and trying to hurt each other with icy snowballs. Mom was yelling at us to play nice with each other.
Today my brother is upholding the law in our local community in North Georgia. He also started a police ministry to help bring other law enforcement officers to Christ. We still try to hurt each other with the icy snowballs whenever we get the chance :)
Yesterday my dad was taking me fishing in upsate N.Y. He was teaching me how to survive as a man and showing me the love a father has for a son. He also taught me how to drive a car down our old country road and stay between the ditches.
Today I get to go pay my respects to my dad at the Georgia National Cemetery. His love that he showed me holds dear to my heart. If I get hungry, I know how to fish because of him. If I'm driving a car (life), I know how to steer away from the ditch (trouble).
Yesterday was gone in the blink of an eye because I was driving life too fast. The straight path my family members were in before, all of a sudden shot into different directions. Of course there were plenty of memories along the way. Some were bad, some were great and some were even life changing in my heart. But as I get older, I forget to slow it down a bit and pay attention to the details life has to offer. I hear and see alot of things happening around me, but I don't soak it all in. If you have read my past blog posts, you can see alot has happened in such a short time in my life. But I'm trying to learn to take my foot off the gas pedal of life and enjoy these "in the meantime" moments. Life is a journey, not a race. If we have a lead foot on the gas pedal of life, then we are going to miss out on all the great things God wants us to do and all the great experiences He wants us to have with him and with others in our lives. Yesterday is gone and today will be "yesterday" tomorrow before you know it. Let's take our foot off the gas in the meantime.