thanks, mr. tailgater!

so i was driving to the hospital last night to see my little angel, baby ryan. in case you don't know, ryan is one of my best friend's baby who was born with a chromosome 2 disorder 2 weeks ago. she has beaten all the odds and by god's grace is now breathing on her own....even the doctors were celebrating! i could talk about ryan all day long on the lessons she has already taught me, but i want to go back to "my drive". the hospital is not that close, a good 45 minute drive and it's a highway drive for a good chunk (az highways are NOT my specialty...and my husband would even say that "driving" is not my specialty!) needless to say, i was so excited to get there and the drive was sooooooooooo long! so...i put the radio on and set the cruise and decided that "love is patient", so would enjoy the "quiet time" of the drive. just as i was settling into my "quiet time", low and behold, a large black escalade with limo-tinted windows pulls up behind me. it was a younger man with a blue shirt with a small eagle logo on the front. why do i know this small detail? because he was THAT close! now, it's important to share here that i was actually doing 5 OVER the limit....not as slow as i have been before (safety first!), so i felt myself starting to get annoyed at he clearly entered my car's "personal space". who does he think he is? i am going OVER the speed limit AND he had plenty of room to pass! my "annoyed" self thought, "oh i'll show him, i'll just slow down!" and then i thought, "what if he was like one of those guys on dateline that follows girls and grabs them." it was this mental battle with what i should do and the only thing that was keeping me from slowing down was fear for the alternative. and then it hit me...."no....i WAS going at a reasonable speed and he did have the option to pass. i am just going to mind my own business, continue to enjoy my "quiet time" and disregard the large black over-powering shadow that was looming quite largely in my rear view mirror. and that's just what i did. after a good 4 miles, he finally passed and didn't even give me a dirty look (shocker!). but here's what it made me think about.....why is our natural reaction to get annoyed and angry and assume the worst in others when we feel like we are done wrong? then we go on to justify our actions by our reactions and that usually means doing something "not nice" back (like...how i was gonna slow down..and show him!). the truth was, i don't even think he was annoyed at me. he choose to stay behind me and didn't offer any unpleasant jestures when he did pass. maybe he had a bad day, maybe he didn't, maybe he was just spaced out, maybe that's how he drives. it doesn't matter. what matters is that "love is patience, love is kind". i hate that that was NOT my first reaction. that escalade driver did nothing to me, yet i went from peaceful and relaxed to angry and annoyed in 1.2 seconds....who lost out here? him or me? me. but next time....it won't be me!! thanks, mr. tailgater, for reminding me of how i can "be love" better. and for the record....ryan is doing incredible and her parents are even more of a testimony to god's power and love....another story for another time.

Jeni Barbush

loveSTRONG ministries

Executive Director

www.lovestrongministries.com