Crystal came home last night. The original plan was for our friend to pick her up from the airport, because our small group was meeting at our home. On a whim, I decided to ditch the small group and surprise Crystal at the airport. She texted me earlier in the day, and told me to check her flight time, but I didn't. She was supposed to come in at 7:55, so when she called the house at 6:55 and said that she had just landed at SeaTac, I felt a bit rushed.
Going forward with the plan, I told her that our friend was leaving small group to come pick her up, and that they would be there shortly. I could tell in her voice she was a bit upset that I hadn't checked the flight info. I know. I'm a complete failure in the airport pickup department. Oops.
I get in the vehicle, kids jump in, and we're on our way. We start to drive towards the airport, and are making pretty good time (we live about 35 mins from the airport), and end up at the interchange of Highway 169 and Interstate 405.
Hopefully I can paint an adequate picture here, its hard with words, but I'll try. As we were merging onto the Interstate, there were three lanes, the farthest of which was an HOV lane. As I came into the first lane, I entered behind the car in front of me that was also merging, they went behind a truck in the far right lane pulling a boat that was going well below the posted 60 mph speed limit. That car had on their blinker to continue left, but was not moving, so I accelerated to the left, next to the car behind the boat.
Apparently the car didn't see the big white GMC Yukon XL SUV, because it came over into my lane and was about to hit me, so I tapped the horn.
This is when it started to go very wrong. Whomever it was in that car with the tinted windows then came up alongside me, repeatedly honked their horn and started gesturing with their car as if they were going to ram me from the right side of the vehicle. They got behind me and got up on my rear bumper and were honking and flashing their lights.
To be honest, I was a bit unnerved by the experience. I had visions of getting shot up with AK-47s and being surrounded by a gang of thugs. I wondered if they would follow me to the airport and rough me up at the terminal. You read about this stuff all the time! "Pastor and kids slayed on freeway on way to pick up wife...film at 11".
Of course the kids were oblivious to what was going on, but for the next few miles, until my exit to the airport, this person continued their vehicular assault. It wasn't fun.
I was thinking about it this morning, and trying to figure out who's fault it was. Should I not have came to the left? Should I not have honked the horn? Did my driving not coincide with my Christian morals and values? I don't want to be guilty of someone not wanting to know who God is because I can't drive like a person of faith.
But here's the dilemma, right or wrong, I wanted to apologize to that person and let them know that I meant them no harm. I wasn't trying to disrespect them or try to shove them around. I simply just didn't want to get hit so I used my horn. Sure, I may have made a poor choice of timing on when to change lanes and accelerate and for that, I'm eternally sorry. Regardless of where they are at with their life, I had a role to play in what happened, and I never intended for it to go past where it went.
This stuff happens all the time, and I think I know why- there are people out there that turn every last interaction in their life into a win or lose battle. At home, at work, on the freeway. Someone is going to win, someone is going to lose, and its not going to be them.
Are you that way? Do you battle everyone and everything? Allow God to change you today. Realize that everything in this world is not worth fighting over. Sure, there are things that are worth fighting for, but not everything everywhere. Sometimes its OK to just let stuff go. Myself included. People who get amped up over every last thing in their life need to get a bit of perspective to understand that just because someone got ahead of you on the freeway or in life, that they are not a loser.
Yes, there may be times when we seem to lose and that's fine. It doesn't make us losers though. Honor God and let Him sort out the details, everything doesn't have to be a battle.
Be blessed today.
pastor matt
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