Seventh-day Adventist® Church

I pulled away from the hard shoulder on the motorway today, having just changed my wheel. The buzz of adrenaline eased from my veins, and my legs felt a little weak.

Making my way to Newbold College from Watford for another day of Community Service training, I was mentally bemoaning the state of the rainy weather, while running through the morning devotional I was to present to my fellow cohorts.

As I turned off the M25 on the slip road to the M4 the view from my windscreen moved to the right as the rear of my car swung round to my left. I tried steering into the skid but only managed to reduce the severity of the spin. 

My front nearside wheel hit the chamfered curb, followed by my rear nearside wheel. This wheel hit side on, breaking the seal of the tyre and deflating it. The pirouette continued leaving me facing the right way down the road, but straddling the curb. Not wanting to have another car copy my routine, I pulled away, joined the M4 and found a safe, well safer, place to stop and inspect. 

Fortunately, there were no barriers or signs at the point where I did my twirl. Just muddy puddles. I had come away with two dirty wheels, one deflated tyre, and a squirt of adrenaline to see me through the day!

I have continually thanked God today for my "safe" journey. Things could have been so much worse. 

I wonder why it takes an experience like this to make me so appreciative of God's continual presence, care, and provision in my life? Why aren't I always full of thanks and praise, all day long, for the simple, the mundane, the usual things that happen in my life?

This week, without being too obsessive, I am going to thank God for all the "usual" things that happen. Not that I haven't been appreciative in the past. It's more for my own good. I don't want to leave my thanks to God just for the "unusual" occurrences. I invite you to join me.

-Pr Nathan Stickland