Lou when we were together recently you shared with me something the Lord had shared with you about when something sounds different this year pay attention. Can you expound on that for our readers?
Sure! An example will explain it more vividly. I had been practicing trying to pay attention to what was going on around me and not to live unconsciously but to live deliberately and on purpose.
My daughter asked me if I wanted to go with her to buy a car and she had already picked it out so we'd pick it up. We went, we drove it, and the salesmen stepped out and we were left alone. She said how perfect it was, leather seats, sun roof, four door, good family car, and the right price. But, something about it didn't convince me so I said, "something's wrong, what is it?" She looked at me and said, "it's the turn signal. I can't stand the sound of it. I'm a musician and I listen to sounds all day. I can't stand the sound of this turn signal."
Inside of me I wanted to say out loud, "What's the matter with you? Why can't you be satisfied? Why do you allow such trivialities to play in your head?" Praise God! Because I was attempting to live in the moment and observe what was different I didn't say anything.
Then she said she thought, "What's wrong with me? Why do I always have to find something wrong? Why would I let a little sound from a turn signal bother me?"
But I said, "What does a beeper signal?"
And she replied, "it's a warning."
I looked and said, "I believe it's a warning to not buy this car." She burst into tears and sobbing and said, "What will I tell the salesmen?" And I replied, "Tell them your mother said you can't buy it?" which brought some relief.
So, we asked for some time to think about it. This was during a time her children were just leaving home and she'd driven a SUV to haul them and goats and chickens and feed and kids and tennis gear and. . . . for all her years. Once she had said she wanted a Porsche when they left home and I laughed at what a preposterous desire that seemed to me.
So, we began to talk about this car she was looking at. Her husband and her brothers had told her to buy the car that would delight her, so I asked, "Does this car delight you?" More tears!
"It's practical, it's perfect for the family." But, the family was leaving. She didn't live on a farm anymore. What did she want? And, it was revealed she really wanted a coupe and not a family car or a SUV.
So, once again she test drove the coupe she really wanted and we talked. Just recently she and I had made a decision to not settle for second best, substitutes, or make-dos. If she bought the family car wasn't that what she was doing. Our God is not second best, a make-do God, his grace is not a substitute for the law--it's the best He has to give. It doesn't mean to go over the moon, to be presumptuous--it means to notice what you notice and ask for wisdom.
Later the one salesman said, “You didn't smile when you were driving the family sedan, but you smiled all the way thru the test drive with a coupe.” (not a Porsche). He also said she was only the third customer he had ever had who immediately turned on the classical station when she got in the car.
And, you know what else? The turn signal on the coupe is exactly the same sound as the family car and she has never been irritated by it again.
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