Today Lora and I are doing a blog switch! So please check her out (and read my Monday Memories post about my BFF) at Take Me the Way I Am. She just updated her blog design, and it's absolutely fantastic. Makes me realize how badly I need to do mine!! Plus, when she gave me two options of guest posts, I had to choose this one simply because the other one is so beautiful that it must be on her own blog. So please be sure to follow her if you don't already! And now, here is today's fabulous guest post:
Life in Chaos
A few weeks ago, Nashville was covered with a beautiful snowfall. And by “covered” I mean there was approximately ¼ inch of snow on the ground. I wish I were kidding.
The thing about Nashville is that we don’t get much snow. What we get instead…is ice. Which every other place that gets snow acquires as well, but there’s usually a nice little snow cover so that it’s fairly safe to drive on. Not so in our fair city. And when you add in the fact that 90% of the people here have NO idea of what to do on the roads when they get slick…yeah, it makes for an interesting time!
So as much as I like driving in the snow (and truly I LOVE it) my mind is constantly active when I’m driving in Nashville winter weather.
“Remember, if you hit a patch of ice, steer with the skid”
“Brake before the slick spot so that you can clear it with no problem”
“Against all instincts, don’t hit your brakes on ice!”
“See that crazed driver beside you? Get distance from them. They clearly don’t know what they’re doing in this weather."
It hit me one day as I calmly navigated the slick ramp that curves around to the exit home.
I’m much better at driving in chaos than in ‘normal’ conditions.
In chaos, I don’t panic. I simply remember the things that have been drilled into my head since I was a young girl growing up in Indiana. I’ve never (knock on wood) had a winter weather related accident or even near accident.
In chaos, my mind is where it should be. I’m not tempted by the iPhone sitting on the passenger seat.
In chaos, I’m paying a LOT more attention to those around me.
I’m not really sure what all this means. Except that I wonder if it somehow is a parallel to my life.
The last year and a half has been rather chaotic in my life. Losing a full time job, dating a wonderful man, seeing so many of my friends deal with death and divorce. I still sometimes wonder if I’ll ever have a “real” job again, and while much of the chaos in my life is GOOD, it’s still somewhat overwhelming!
And truly, I can’t remember a time I’ve been more…calm.
I can’t claim any credit for this.
It’s God who calms me in the chaos of my everyday life.
It makes sense. In my many theology courses during college I learned about this particular aspect of God in more depth. He’s kind of a pro at this whole creating order out of chaos thing.
But somehow I’ve never made it personal until now.
The God who literally creates order out of the chaos of the world has created order out of MY chaos.
What an amazing God!
lovely! enjoyed this post ...i am, just about rediscovering God and it feels good. passed by through Lora and SITS
ReplyDeletei remember the days that i lived in Nashville and "the storm of the century" hit....I laughed at how everyone freaked out trying to drive in the snow and how terrible they were at it. Great post!
ReplyDeleteAwesome post Lora... I get the crazy drivers thing... we dont have snow by the beach in Cali, but when it Rains people go freakin' bananas!! Hope the job thing comes along soon!! I just added myself as a follower over here now!!
ReplyDeletethanks again for swapping with me--loved hearing a little bit more about your bff :)
ReplyDeleteand my boyfriend totally believed you were actually 17, so hey :D