Can I just mainline my coffee? I mean, seriously—lay open my
veins, and shove that stuff in.
Ugh—Every day this week, as I’ve gotten into my car and
started to pray (yeah, you’d pray in my car, too), it’s been, “Oh, Lorrrrrd!!!!”
As in, “holy crap, it’s 5 am, and I just don’t want to be awake right now!!!!!!”
Part prayer, part exclamation, and all exasperation: My mornings are no joke,
people. I’m up at 4:15 (and will admit to hitting the snooze button at least
once); I’ll take a few minutes for the body basics, grab some clothes (which,
if I’m smart, I’ll have picked out the night before), and feed the dog. As I
leave my bedroom, I’ll take a quick look around the room…my eyes will linger on
the sleeping forms of my husband and my son, and my heart will whimper at the
thought of leaving them behind (it doesn’t get better. I miss my baby every
single day).
My socks MIGHT match my outfit, but frankly, I don’t care.
No one will see them (at least, that’s what I tell myself). I might have a few
minutes to do a few dishes or switch laundry loads; I’ll throw a small amount
of makeup on, wrestle my hair into submission, and warm up the car while I make
a smoothie. By then, it’s 5:00am, and I’m on the road for a 45-minute (to an
hour) long commute…
It’s a good time to pray and focus on the day.
It’s also a good time to observe the world around me…
White pickup trucks are the bane of my existence. Most of
the people on the road with me are fellow hard-workers like myself; these darn
White Pickup Drivers tend to be overbearing, pains-in-my-butt. They speed up
behind my compact car, headlights blaring into my rearview mirror. They’ve
chased me once or twice, when I didn’t switch lanes in their timing. They’ve
passed me, then gone in front of me to slam on their brakes, to make a point
(good thing I don’t tailgate). They’ve shouted, honked, and been mostly belligerent
to me and other drivers on the road. WPDs tend to be absolute jerks on the
road, especially in inclement weather; they act like they’re the best drivers
in the world, and the rest of us are only in their way. I’m singling out the
White Pickup Drivers, but really, it’s Pickup Drivers as a whole, at 5 am. I’m
not a fan.
These sentiments are not the same as my vitriol for the
Female SUV Driver—that’s a personal, sexist rant against my own gender. But,
unless you have 3 or more people in that SUV,
and have taken some kind of consideration as to the amount of space your
SUV takes up when you drive/park, then you need to drive something you can
handle. West County Female SUV Drivers are an entirely different species of
bad/inconsiderate/dippy drivers. Someone should ban them to only being able to
drive crossover/compact cars…or force them to hire chauffeurs. I’m also (you
guessed it) NOT a fan.
This is only part of why I pray during my commute. Trust me:
it’s for the benefit of the general population. It never ceases to amuse me
when I’m in the middle of praying, and someone cuts me off. It goes a little
something like this:
“God, thank You for today; I pray that as I go through my
day, that I can live in a way that honors
You-HEY-YOU-@$$HAT-GET-IN-YOUR-OWN-LANE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Um, sorry, Lord…I really need You to help me get through
today, because I’m really, really tired. Lord, I really am working for the
weekend! God, I ask that you watch over my husband and my son today-HEY,
THAT-WAS-JUST-RIDICULOUS!!!!! GET OFF OF
MY BUMPER, JERK!!!!!!!”
And that’s how my drive to work/prayer time tends to go,
LOL.
Good thing God has a sense of humor.
I love that Jesus accepts me as I am, but challenges me in a
loving way to be better. Obviously, I have a long way to go.
That’s never more apparent then when I’m driving at 5:00am.
#CallingOnJesus