The Simple Things

So, we went to the Mall of GA on Saturday. It's 13 miles from our house. You know the feeling of realizing that you have made a colossal mistake, and it's about to go down and there's nothing you can do about it. We left at 1:30. We arrived back home at 4:30. That's right. It took us 3 hours to go 13 miles.

Now, the good thing is that we had nothing in particular to do. We had a lazy afternoon planned. The other good thing is that my entire family was together. And maybe the cool thing was that we were in my truck...all six of us. It's a tight squeeze. There's just enough car seatbelts for all of us. 3 car seats in the back, three of us across the front. We were a sight. But we survived.

In fact, we parlayed being by Steak & Shake into a potty break and came out with a strawberry milkshake. My wife had moved approximately 200 feet by the time we came back with the shake. We sat in traffic and just talked and laughed and wondered if we'd run out of gas. We were helpless, but we had each other.

People let the traffic, schedules, and general busy-ness of the holidays get to them. There's no need to. You can't do anything about it. Be thankful you have friends and family. Remember that God is good in traffic and when you're cruising down the interstate at 70 mph. God is good when you have money to buy lots of presents and when you have years you have to cut back. God is good. The traffic will eventually clear out. The busyness will eventually die down. And God will still be good. Don't let it get to you. Be thankful for the simple things, like family and friends and health. And be thankful for the most profound thing -- God is good and He loves you and me.