It was the start of a pretty normal day. I was preparing to drive a substitute bus route and gave myself a little extra time. I did what I have now done at least a few hundred times…back up from my driveway. This time though was a little different…
I felt the back end begin to dip and suddenly realized too late what was going on, I tried to compensate and next thing I knew I was stuck. I was barely able to get out of the drivers side because the door had dug into the soil. I walked around to fully assess the situation and saw that my entire passenger side was lifted off the ground almost two feet.
After a few failed attempts I knew this was not good; I woke up my little brother to see if he could come help if I pushed the car’s front end. When I tried to explain to my drowsy brother what I had done he said, “You’ve got to be kidding me, it can’t be that bad.” When he came out and saw it, his expression changed, “Oh, wow, that’s not good.” We tried a couple of things from putting strips of wood under the tire, a tarp that got tangled in the wheel well, and me standing on the back end…nothing was working. So, there I was walking to the bus I was needing for the bus route.
At this point, I’m pretty embarrassed all my neighbors hadn’t left yet and they would see my car catastrophe and think, “What is going on?” Then, I had some students who would pass by, like they do every morning, but this morning they would get the entertaining view of my car levitating partially off the ground.
Later, that morning I had to humbly accept help from a few truck-endowed students who pulled me out (nothing comes free…so in exchange I had to allow the whole ordeal filmed live on Snapchat). Let’s be real we’ve all had those days, where literally nothing goes right from the word, “Go!” Yet, isn’t it also those days that offer us real perspective upon our lives?
Sure, I could have been simply upset (and I assure you I was at first…how literally could I be so uh-duh), but there came a complete peace when I had to accept that there was nothing I could do in that moment to fix this situation. Eventually, I could laugh about it by 9:30am when we were righting my car. Life is too short to be consumed by the things we cannot change and life is certainly too short not to be humble enough to laugh at ourselves.
Life is naturally full of both the good and bad days. We cannot fake the fact that there will be days that will test our patience, our heart, and our passion. There will be days we will cry, scream, pout, and whatever, that’s reality; but if we can develop a healthy perspective and cultivate capacity in our hearts and souls to live life in abundant patience, abundant love, and abundant peace…boy howdy, we become elevated instruments of positive change!
This healthy perspective and increased capacity of abundance doesn’t just happen and it certainly cannot be manufactured; it is a gift that comes from a foundational relationship with our Lord, Jesus Christ. An “abundant life” is not a materialistic life, it is a life filled with the intangible blessings that God desires to bestow on each of his children (that’s us!). Here are a few verses to anchor these thoughts:
John 10:10 – The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.
Matthew 6:33 – But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
Isaiah 58:11 – And the Lord will guide you continually and satisfy your desire in scorched places and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.
Romans 15:13 – May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.
2 Corinthians 9:8 – And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.
Friends, this is just the tip of the iceberg in what is described within scripture as to the promises that God has for us not just in eternity, but is awaiting us in this life and in these precious moments. If it is our heart’s desire to enact perennial impact through our life; we must realize that our reserves alone are wholly and completely inadequate in fulfilling the good works he has prepared for us!
As always, thank you for reading and sharing; it is such a blessing to experience yet another beautiful Spring Season (fingers crossed for a little rain)! Have a great rest of the week!
-Take care, Anthony
Perennial Educator 