Out ' N About in East Texas

Two great messages on the Highway 14 from Hawkins to Tyler.....

The cadillac sat on its patch of unmown grass letting the passersby know that it "runs super, but has no brakes." The picture doesn't show that the grass all around the car has been cut, leaving the prized auto perched on a green throne.

Haven't you felt that way before? As long as I don't have to stop, I am running super. I am in the fast lane, with the "pedal to the metal." Only problem is: stopping usually entails hitting a wall or another vehicle. Brakes are essential to cars and lifestyles.

My friend, Becky, wrote today and said she didn't get the license number on the truck, but she obviously got hit by one. She was running great, but temporarily ran out of brakes in her go for broke life.

A friend gifted me with a candle holder saying, "Be still and know I am God." When we are running super, we find it hard to be still, don't we? "Don't let the sun go down on your idleness" had to be one of my Mom's biblical paraphrases. She was not crazy about laziness. For sure, Jesus wasn't going to return and find her on the couch.

"No Brakes...." If we don't apply them regularly, we find ourselves out of control. I would love to see who buys that car.....someone who likes to drag his foot on the pavement, I suppose.

The bumper sticker isn't too clear, but it reads, "Tree hugging dirt worshipper." It was firmly attached to a "Nature's Child Landscaping Service" vehicle. Just in case you didn't know, East Texas loves its pine trees as good as anybody in the world. But, we aren't in the practice of hugging too many of them ----- and definitely not worshipping dirt. You may find a few saying prayers beside their oil wells, but soil isn't the stuff of idols.

Later that afternoon, I read to my friend Patti in Mother Francis hospital. We read Isaiah 45. Verse after verse after verse clearly articulated the thought, "I am the Lord. I am God alone. Give up your idols." So, I am most thankful for the trees,, the dirt, and even the crazy deer who eat my plants. But when it comes to worship, I have to lay all the false idols down and recognize that there is only one who deserves, demands, and delights in worship.