Welcoming the Traffic

If I had to be honest, most mornings I absolutely loathe traffic even though I try to not let it bother me. Depending on the day, I’ll either listen to my favorite stations on Pandora, flip through the various talk morning shows to find a quick laugh or if I know its a really long commute I’ll listen to a sermon podcast on my iPod if I think I can get it all in. All while trying to block out the knowledge that my commute is awful. That my 30 miles can be 35 minutes or over an hour, sometimes worse.

Thursday morning started the same, probably even a little worse than normal since my Wednesday was pretty rough. After being proud of myself for getting up and getting ready on time, thinking I got ahead of most of the traffic and would be on the 35 minute route that day, I realized half an hour later when I finally got to 316 (only 10 miles from home) that I was very wrong.

A couple minutes later I found myself on the phone with my dad. I’m not even sure what possessed me to call him other than knowing for sure he’d be up. Usually my ride home from work is when I call my parents. But Thursday morning is when I needed him, even though I didn’t know it at the time.

The conversation was fresh and without distractions. It wasn’t like our afternoon chats where I am coming home with baggage from the work day rushing to my next meeting whether it be small group or something else and trying to fit some time in to connect with him. Or where he is busy shooting the bull with the men outside or running to one of his many responsibilities he has taken on and trying to squeeze me in. We got to just simply talk.

All I had was time to waste in the car and all he was doing was wasting the morning before getting busy with the million things he somehow finds to do. For the first time, I found myself welcoming the traffic for the rest of the commute. Talking about so many different things, some I can’t even remember. But spending the morning talking to my dad was so very special to me. It did my heart good. And meant the world to me.

It really set the tone for the rest of the day. From that conversation I came away knowing how much my dad loved me, supported me, and was proud of me without him really even having to say it. Sure I already knew all this but it served a specific purpose that day. When little things went wrong like my computer once again needing to go to IT the 2nd day in a row, I was reminded of how thankful I was that I called my dad that morning because things didn’t seem so bad anymore. When we had coconut cake for my boss’s birthday I was asked why I didn’t have a piece and if I even like it... My response was along the lines of well yes, my dad liked it and anything my dad liked, I liked growing up. When a co-worker mentioned some pics they saw on Facebook of me in my hunting gear and then asked if I was daddy’s girl, my answer was “Of course, I adore him.” Little moments of him all day. Little moments that may not have been triggered had I not started the day talking to my dad.

It finally hit me a couple hours ago (today) that my time with my heavenly father is very much the same. For soooo long if I even set aside time, I’ve been spending time with Him at the end of the day, sometimes in the middle, if I’m lucky. During my lunch break, after I get home, before I go to bed, etc. Always, always after distractions have entered my day. Rarely do I spend any quality time with my heavenly father in the morning other than listening to some Christian music, praying while in the shower, or listening to those sermons on my drive in, which don’t happen all that often actually. What I crave is the one on one time. The time where it’s just me and Him-just like I crave with my earthly father. I crave the conversations where there are no distractions yet, no baggage from the day yet, where its fresh, where its simple. I crave the constant reminder of Him throughout the day. I crave more days like I had yesterday that started with my dad.

Like I said earlier, I didn’t know it at the time but I needed that 30 minute conversation yesterday morning with my dad. Not only to get me through the day yesterday but to be a catalyst for my mornings from here forward. God definitely used yesterday to show me how much I need to spend time with Him in the mornings, no buts about it. It’s going to take sacrifice and obedience that I currently don’t have but I know that if its something God is asking of me then He will provide the strength and will power to make it happen.

Dad, if you’re reading this, thank you. You mean the world to me and I love you to pieces.