A little rusty

This past weekend my family came down to visit me in Chicago from Michigan. My siblings stayed at my apartment while my parents stayed with my Grand parents in Barrington, a suburb of Chicago.

On Saturday my sister, brothers and I were going to drive to Barrington to eat dinner at my Grandparents’ home. I knew how to get there, so I volunteered to drive. I do not have a car in Chicago, and since I have been living here for about two months I haven’t really driven often; so I took my time and drove slowly (warming up the engine and also my driving skills). I guess my driving was considered a little bit more questionable than slow, because right before I was about to merge on to the highway, I saw blue flashing lights in my rear view mirror. I was being pulled over by Chicago’s finest.

I haven’t been pulled over much in my short four year span of driving, and I sometimes forget the routine. Without thinking I turned around to rummaged through the back seat looking for my purse; not the brightest idea. One of the policemen came around to the driver side window while the other officer began yelling, “What are you doing, what are you doing . . !!!!” in one of the back seat windows, while he placed a hand on his holster.

I had no idea what I was doing.

I guess I was getting too antsy, when I had decided to grab my purse from the back seat in order to retrieve my drivers license. I failed to remember that I was supposed to keep my hands to myself until the officer asks for my license.

The long short of things was that I was let off the hook and I didn’t get a ticket. The officers were confused as to why I was driving slow, but assumed I was a tourist because of the Michigan license plate.

This story reminds me of how easy it is to forget the simple everyday necessities such as prayer and devotion. I know when I get caught up in the busy-ness of life, I slip and skip my devotions, or forgot to pray and thank God for everything taking place in my life, and to ask his help with every problem. Just like driving, as time passes the forgetting to pray and reading devotions can make one forget why and how the system worksn and the system can only work with God