Getting Em and Ella ready for school in the morning,
sometimes side-stepping my mother’s anxiety because she might be five minutes
late for a job she arrives an hour early for every morning, can be stressful
and chaotic to say the least.
After we’ve made it through the car line drop-off-loop at Forest Acres and I know my girls are safely tucked away at school, I make my way to work. Over the years I suppose I have adopted a portion of my mom’s incredible work ethic, so I also I also like to arrive early and get caught up on paperwork or tying up loose ends from the previous work day, before my new work day begins.
Several months ago, without even giving it much thought, I developed a routine where I turn off the car radio after the girls exit my car and the adorable little safety patrol tells me to have a great day while closing my door. As soon as that door shuts, a stillness and silence permeate every inch of my car, like the swirling smoke of an incense stick would create a cloud in the air. There is an immediate sense of peace, and I instinctively began to utilize the quiet of my morning commute to pray and talk with God.
My prayers to God have always been conversational in nature because I don’t think I have to be pretentious when I pray. Reverent and respectful, yes; however, I believe that I can simply and plainly talk to God as if He were sitting right beside me in the passenger seat.
Thus the idea for this new writing project was born.
Prayer is incredibly powerful. In my life, I’ve seen my own prayers answered. I have witnessed God do some amazing things in my life at times when I felt the most hopeless. I began to think about how neat it might be to document a year in my prayer life so that I had written evidence, if you will, of the way God is working in my life and the way He might work in the lives of others who simply ask him to do so.
The term “Back Seat Driver” typically has a negative connotation.
After we’ve made it through the car line drop-off-loop at Forest Acres and I know my girls are safely tucked away at school, I make my way to work. Over the years I suppose I have adopted a portion of my mom’s incredible work ethic, so I also I also like to arrive early and get caught up on paperwork or tying up loose ends from the previous work day, before my new work day begins.
Several months ago, without even giving it much thought, I developed a routine where I turn off the car radio after the girls exit my car and the adorable little safety patrol tells me to have a great day while closing my door. As soon as that door shuts, a stillness and silence permeate every inch of my car, like the swirling smoke of an incense stick would create a cloud in the air. There is an immediate sense of peace, and I instinctively began to utilize the quiet of my morning commute to pray and talk with God.
My prayers to God have always been conversational in nature because I don’t think I have to be pretentious when I pray. Reverent and respectful, yes; however, I believe that I can simply and plainly talk to God as if He were sitting right beside me in the passenger seat.
Thus the idea for this new writing project was born.
Prayer is incredibly powerful. In my life, I’ve seen my own prayers answered. I have witnessed God do some amazing things in my life at times when I felt the most hopeless. I began to think about how neat it might be to document a year in my prayer life so that I had written evidence, if you will, of the way God is working in my life and the way He might work in the lives of others who simply ask him to do so.
The term “Back Seat Driver” typically has a negative connotation.
When I Googled the term I found the following definitions and examples:
Back Seat Driver: A passenger who gives unwanted and (or) unneeded directions to the driver; also, a person who interferes in affairs without having knowledge, responsibility, or authority for doing so. For example, Aunt Mary drives us all crazy with her instructions; she's an incurable back seat driver. This term originated in the United States in the 1920s, when it was first used for a passenger legitimately directing a chauffeur, and it was quickly transferred to figurative use.
As a figure of speech, a Back Seat Driver is an annoying passenger who tells the driver how to drive; someone who tells others how to do things. For example: “I don't need any backseat driver on this project. Stop pestering me with all your advice. Nobody likes a backseat driver!”
As a title for this project, I originally considered the term back seat driver as a reference to God – minus all the negative connotations. Let me make this clear, I was not thinking about God as an annoying or nagging passenger giving unwanted or unneeded direction in my life. Instead, I was thinking of God as the back seat driver helping me, the driver, to navigate my life in a way that make sense and was clear – a way that kept my on His path and following his plan for my life. The reality is that on earth, I am a human being and the vessel through which God works when I allow Him to do so. While I am perfectly made by God, I am certainly not perfect. I am human and I am flawed.
The more I thought about developing a thematic title, this truth clicked in my brain like a light switch being turned on: I am often the back seat driver in my life. I continually ask God to guide and direct my life. I desire, and am practicing and learning, to let go and let God. But there are so many times when I am the annoying back seat driver who questions God’s directions and suggests alternate routes that fit my idea of the way things should be or the way I want things to go. I am the one who causes the accident because I think I know which way is best, which route is the most direct to get to whatever goal I have in sight to accomplish.
What I have found, time after time, is that when I try to take over and be in control, things do not work out for the best. It is when I allow God to be the architect of my life – when I pray for His guidance and allow him to build from His blueprints – He creates something beautiful and majestic – something that exceeds my expectations. When I allow Him to do so, God showers me with blessings that surpass the greatest ideas I can dream up in my limited human mind.
Part of my practice in growing closer to God is studying the Bible and reading devotionals. I’ve always been a great researcher and when I want to learn more about any subject, my initial response is to hit the books. I read a variety of devotionals, but one of my favorites is “Jesus Calling” by Sarah Young. As I was working on this particular entry, I took a quick break and read my daily devotional, which corresponding exactly to the point I am trying to make here: “Walk with Me in holy trust, responding to My initiatives rather than trying to make things fit your plans. I died to set you free, and that includes freedom from compulsive planning. When your mind spins with a multitude of thoughts, you cannot hear My voice. A mind preoccupied with planning pays homage to the idol of control. Listen to Me and live abundantly.”
I am setting out on a journey, learning to allow God to be driver, the author and illustrator of the plan and map for my life and the lives of my daughters. I want to practice giving up control and always having to be a back seat driver. Please pray for me along the way.
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