Coasting

Coasting

Here are some current gas prices worldwide according to an email:Hong Kong $6.25, London, UK$5.96, Rome $5.80, Brazil $4.42, New Delhi, India $3.71, Mexico City $2.22, Saudi Arabia $0.91,Kuwait $0.78 With current astronomically, high gas prices I decided I should come up with whatever way I could to save money on gas. My car is an automatic transmission but when I used to drive a stick shift you find that you are much more in tune with the car and what all that is going on with it while you are driving. I would often coast along instead of having my foot on the fun right pedal all the time. So I decided in an effort to save on the pricey petrol I would try not to constantly have my foot on the gas if it wasn't necessary and instead I would coast as much as possible.

When I told my sister, my new philosophy her response was, "I would hate to be the person behind you!" I found, to my own surprise, that often I had to apply the brakes because your car naturally rolls faster on even small inclines than the speed limit allows and that if you apply the gas at just the right point on a hill and then let off of it after the summit that you can glide ever so nicely down the hill at great speeds. Obviously if we lived in Kansas I would be sitting somewhere bored, broke and lonely and this email would not be written. Thankfully Columbia has many lovely little hills and tons of turn busting super slopes on the routes I routinely take.

I once received a ticket (so sad I know) going down one such big hill, in between Forum and Fairview on Chapel hill and let me tell you, the fact that the burning sun was setting directly in my eyes, which made it impossible to see the speedometer and that I was coasting, did not matter to the female police officer. Beyond the obvious, that you to can save money on I gas, I have realized while trying to stay conscious and aware enough of my driving to actually NOT have my pedal to the metal the whole time, that this also can be my attitude with God. I am so driven and gun ho to get somewhere with Him that I forget to just rest in Him, chill, spend a little quality time just being mellow and listening to Him for a change instead of me running my mouth endlessly.

When you are coasting in the car it's really peaceful, you don't have all the engine noise and it's quiet. For me I have to let some of that "get there now, you're late stress" go and just let the pressure off the pedal and off of me. It's really amazing how hard it is to stay aware and conscious of how basically before I drove,Bam, gas,go,go,go, ohh red light,brake, brake, brake, yeah, green light again-gaaaasss,gas...all over again, etc,etc..


Multiple people kept advising a precious friend of mine to rest in the Lord and I was like whaaaat, "No, go, go, go, run after Him, don't rest, keep running." But then I realized in my driving that there are perfect times when if you apply the pedal a little before the hill it will nicely take you over and then the momentum of the car does the rest and you can just float on down peacefully. So there are times when you need to use your va-va voom and then other times when it is great to just glide along for the ride.

Obviously you can't coast all the time or you would come to a stop eventually and if you were constantly flooring it you would run out of gas pretty fast and we all need to use the brakes sometimes, so I guess it is all about figuring out when it is best to use each one of these to most optimize your time and your gas and not to forget to Enjoy the Ride.

With the Lord's help, the Word's guidance and the Holy Spirit's prompting maybe we can all keep our spirit's tank full and coast on into His peace. Lord help us to drive safely and serenely into more of you and find the happy medium of how you want us to pursue You in all things. Please refill our tanks and help us to fill others and help us to find time to coast in You, today!

"Go in peace. Your journey has the LORD's approval."Judges 18:5

Heaven Helped Me 5/2/08
Love Always!
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