Bumps and Blessings

Bumps are annoying, but inevitable.
I really don’t like bumps. They’re usually not attractive and typically slow us down. Physical bumps hurt or itch, bumps in the road hurt our cars or our schedules.

At the moment my older sister is fighting some serious bumps. She was doing some lawn work in her son’s yard and came down with a major case of…you guessed it; poison ivy. I feel so bad for her. It spread everywhere and it’s really hot right now in Indiana. She has to stay inside where there is air conditioning and wear long sleeves. Even after three prescription medications from the doctor, she’s still miserable. Perhaps she needed the rest after a busy year of teaching high school P.E. and being the department head. She has been forced to slow down and rest.

The small island I’m living on has a speed limit of 15 and a bazillion speed bumps so residents and visitors are more likely to follow the speed limit.
One morning I was heading to meet girlfriends for a walk and on the way to the bridge was a detour sign. I had to turn around and go ALL the way around the island. Maybe I should have counted the speed bumps, rather than counting the minutes I felt I was wasting. Perhaps the speed bumps should have reminded me about the speeding ticket I was issued in Tacoma a few weeks ago. I get to zipping along in my little red Kia and don’t always pay attention to the posted speed limit. The speed bumps forced me to slow down.


One of the doggies I’m watching developed a huge lump under her eye. The family was out of town and I was in charge. Due to her discomfort she scratched it until it ruptured and was dripping blood. I took her to the Vet where she was given meds and within a week she was back to normal. Her bump didn’t really slow her down…

We're going along at our normal pace when life (or God) gives us “bumps”. Whether we want to be or not, we are forced to slow down. When I’m with my kids or Mike I’m living life at a normal or fast pace, but when I’m alone here in Washington I feel as if I must brace myself for the jerky, uncomfortable feeling that will probably come. Don’t get me wrong; I don’t mind being by myself, but too much time alone, just like too many speed bumps in a row, is painful.

When my four kids were little time flew by and every day was crazy and I treasured the moments I could take a break and just thumb through a magazine. Perhaps God wants me to focus on Him right now and all the blessings He’s given our family. Maybe something's coming that will take lots of energy so I need to rest up and be ready.

I feel the stop and go movement of my life and wonder if it will seem like a smooth country highway a year from now. My youngest is officially a senior in high school as of today and will be graduating in June of 2012. I don’t want to rush her experience just because I’m anxious to get back to Mike. I hope her senior year will be full of fun memories, many blessings and no major bumps.

One of my favorite new Christian songs is called Blessings and it’s by Laura Story. Go on You Tube and check it out.

How about you? Are you on a journey right now that is filled with speed bumps or smooth roads?

In His Grip, Jane