´e Tutto Buono... It's All Good: Pick A Lane...

Long time, no post. I know. I recently had several people ask me why I haven't been blogging for the past year. And the answer, like life, is a bit complicated. Last year I found out I needed (and had) a life-saving surgery (Thank you Dr. Norman). My son entered his senior year of high school. My husbands job, which has always included some travel, upped his travel schedule. All those reasons contributed to the not blogging issue. But, I guess if I'm honest, I just didn't feel like I had anything more to add. There are some amazing people out there who were saying all the things I was thinking and feeling in ways that were much more elegant than I could. And I'm not one to "muck up the waters" by just adding noise. Let's face it, I will never be (nor have I claimed to be) the most articulate, smart, or eloquent speaker out there. And I will readily admit to sometimes having what some would consider a "low-brow" sense of humor. Case in point, while visiting a certain well-known European museum with my family this summer, my 18 year old son and I spent a little bit of time cackling, in a very loud and American type way, over the body parts that people most often touched in the "touch the art" portion of said museum. You could tell what those parts were because on the brass statues, those parts were well polished. Like I said, refinement and dignity may not walk hand in hand with me at all times. But I felt like I had something to say this month, and I am too long winded to put in in just a regular Facebook post, so here it is..

Because my son is now in college (Go Clemson), I have put in some significant road time driving to visit him and watch the home football games. He is in the marching band and I am loath to miss an opportunity to go and just be obnoxiously proud of him. Back to the subject... while on these road trips we have several high hills that we pass over (I am from Colorado, I know you people call these mountains, hah). We all know the drill while driving over these high places.... all slow traffic-- particularly semi-trucks-- should automatically shoot over to the far right lane so that all of us faster people can pass on by. But recently, on several of these trips, I have been behind a semi-truck who has decided that they want to go faster than the trucks in the right lane, and yet considerably slower than I want to go. And what really irritates me, is that several times they have straddled between two lanes, not committing to either one, and thus making me unsure as to what their next move will be. These lane straddlers are not my favorite people... I admit to getting extremely annoyed at them. Gah!!!! PICK A LANE!!!! And if you pick the fast lane, you better be fast.... God's still working on me and my lack of driving patience.

Now, we also had the experience of driving over in Italy this summer. Now those people are my car driving spirit people. They know how to pick a lane. They pick a lane with a ferocity unknown to drivers in the U.S. They commit to their lane full-throttle, and wholeheartedly, and sometimes with incredibly zealous fervor. Much love to the Italians and their mad driving skills, even if you almost killed me...

Anyway, back to picking a lane. When looking at the recent Facebook posts, watching TV, etc... it's very clear to me that people are "picking lanes" politically and otherwise. In fact, they have a lot in common with the above described Italian method of driving. But the problem is sometimes they are leaving people on the side of the road damaged from road rage. And I find it hard to watch. But, we (as a rule) don't like ambiguity either. We don't like those people who don't seem to pick a lane, or even follow any rules of the road. Don't these people know that there are lines on the road for a reason????

So, here I sit, feeling like I need to commit and pick a lane. But I want to be careful with how I pick the lane. I want to be a safe driver, not causing harm to those around me. And I definitely don't want to be seen as a line straddler, one who won't commit to anything, and thus unclear about where I am going. And so the question becomes, what lane to pick? And what do I do when I reach the parts of the road where the lines are worn thin and hard to see? How do I pick a lane if I can't see the lines?

And so I'm picking my lane. And the lane I'm choosing is labeled "LOVE." I think God clearly told me this was the lane in which I was supposed to operate from.

"Let me give you a new command: Love one another. In the same way I loved you, you love one another. This is how everyone will recognize that you are my disciples." John 13:34-35 the message

In this age of murkily political, social, and ethical choices.. how do I pick my lane? It's remarkably simple, and yet extremely hard to consistently carry out. To pick the lane of love. How do I do this lane? It involves some hard to see lines. It's sometimes the slowest lane out there.

I find these words "the same way I loved you" to be the interesting parts of the sentence. So, how did Jesus show his love to others. Well, He showed love to some interesting people. You all realized how crazy John the Baptist probably looked to people right? I mean, he ate weird stuff. He was pretty radical in his clothing choices. He was an interesting character. And yet he was the one chosen to baptize Jesus. Let's talk Zacchaeus. He was wealthy. He was working in conjunction with a government that was cruelly oppressing his own people (i.e. aligned with the wrong political party). He was considered corrupt. He was small in stature (i.e. not considered to be an attractive trait in those times) He was unlikable. And yet, he was chosen to receive love by Jesus. The woman at the well. She was a Samaritan (i.e. an immigrant from an unfriendly country). Her belief system was considered heathen and unclean. She was an adulteress. She slept around with many different men. And, she was a woman. And Jesus chose her as worthy of his love. Jesus chose to love the people around him, regardless of their political offiliation, belief system, ethnicity, career, health, wealth, age, or sex. He chose the lane of love.

And that's the lane I choose. I am not going to choose a side publicly in this political season. Make no mistake, I will vote, and part of voting requires that I pick one. I do not take this lightly. It is a great privilege that has been given to me on the backs of many others who have fought for my freedom. I will examine the candidates closely from the presidential selection all the way down to my state politicians. But I will not make this my lane. My lane is to love those around me, and if I try to straddle the lane of love and a public strong political opinion I'm afraid people will be confused about which lane I'm in. And I want everything in my life to point people toward God's love for them. Pointing people towards one political candidate does not point them towards God and his great love. It just makes my message unclear, and murky, and it creates unnecessary noise and distraction.

You will notice that because I pick the lane of love, I will not pick some of the other lanes that you might think I should be picking. I'm ok with that. I accept that I am at my base a simple person. I am unable to straddle lanes and keep my message clear. So, I chose the lane of love over all others. My goal is to see the people around me and treat them with love, regardless of where they are, who they are, or what they are doing. Sometimes, this is easy for me. There are those who are just easy for me to love. Sometimes this is harder. And I have to use all of my concentration on staying in the lane of love while around them.

And here's the truth about this lane I choose called love. This lane isn't about me. This lane isn't built by me. It's about God. He built this lane, this path, for me to follow. And if you have stuck with this long post and find yourself at the end, please leave with this knowledge: You are greatly, deeply, wonderfully loved. God loves you. If you are struggling to pick a lane, pick this one. The lane of love. Follow it... see where it leads. See for yourself what love can do in your life and the lives of others. It's not always an easy lane, but it leads to a wonderful destination!

And some of you will have skipped down to this part where I post some of my photo's. That's ok. I love you (and relate to you). I will end this with a few of my favorite photo's of some lanes I have traveled on since I last posted. Have a great day!