What's Really Important

Last week at our couples retreat I shared that Tami is not the greatest of drivers.  Now, she is an amazing wife, mother, and grandmother.  She is an organized and task-driven person, but she just lacks some focus when it comes to the more boring routines of life.  Through the years I’ve been amazed at some of the driving maneuvers she’s performed.  Here are a few for your reading enjoyment.  I’ve seen bumpers ripped off cars because Tami caught them with her bumper while backing out of parking spots.  She has backed into the car of a woman she was going to follow to an event while the woman was waiting to back out herself.  Tami backed into the driver’s side door of her grandfather’s new car, side-swiped a post in a church parking lot, blew out tires while turning a corner too quickly and hitting the curb, and ripped off the passenger door mirror because she got too close to road construction barrels.  These are all due to a lack of attention while driving, and it used to drive me crazy when she called to tell me what she’d done.  I would often get angry and be more concerned about the car than about her well-being.

Last June, our car was hit in the passenger door by a young woman who went through a stop sign.  She hit right where Tami was sitting, and the force caused us to go into a sideways slide.  The accident seemed to last a very long time but ended a few seconds later when our SUV rolled over.  Our guardian angels were definitely watching over us because other than a few cuts and scrapes, some sore muscles, and a bad headache for Tami where her head hit the door, we walked away unharmed from that accident.  I came to realize that no car is worth the health and safety of my family.  I came to realize it was not fair of me to be so critical about a possession and I needed to worry more about the one I loved.  Yes, my beautiful wife may not be the greatest driver, but that’s not why I married her.  I married her because she completed me.  Her gifts, talents, and support are far greater than any dent in a door or bumper laying on the ground.  I am doing my best to not be critical of the things that don’t matter in the grand plan that God has for John and Tami.

God has a grand plan for each of us...don’t allow a few bumps to rob you of the joy of being involved in the plan He has for us.  Enjoy the ride that God has waiting for you and find how to get the most out of it for you and your family.   Oh, before I forget, while telling the couples about some of Tami’s driving mishaps, she stopped me during the retreat to inform me that she had a mishap earlier in the day.  What can I do but just smile and say, “That’s my Tam!”