hit

by

I Don’t Know What I Should Do

I’m sitting here this morning unsure of what to do.

don't know

Last night my car got rear-ended. It wasn’t a big hit; there are no aches and pains resulting from the jolt.  

But the guy who hit me doesn’t want me to report it … he doesn’t want the demerit points.  

There’s a big part of me that wants to be nice and make it easy on the guy. But there is another part of me that wonders if I will be screwed over if I don’t report it and go through the regular channels.

If the accident had have happened on a weekday, I would be getting an estimate right now and calling the guy, asking how he is going to pay for it all. But it’s the weekend and I don’t think I’m going to find a collision shop that’s open.  

Plus, I am going away for a couple of days at the first of the week and that will delay an estimate even longer. 

I’m thinking time is of the essence. I have to know if this guy is going to pay for my car to get fixed or if I need to just report it and have the insurance worry about it.

As it is right now, the latch closes on the trunk but it doesn’t lock. The screen on the dashboard constantly shows a picture of the trunk being open.

I don’t want to be mean, but I don’t want to get left holding the bag, so to speak. 

I think I will try the dealership where I bought the car to see if someone there can give me an estimate of the cost. Then I will visit the guy who cuts my hair – he’s a real car guy. I’ll get him to take a look at it and see if he has any advice.

Other than that, I really feel in limbo right now. I’m a little nervous about waiting too long if I am going to report the accident. And I’m nervous about trusting this guy to come through.

He seemed so matter-of-fact about everything – like he’d done this often and it’s no big deal.

He said he was sorry but it was one of those sorries where you see the lips moving but are not sure there is any genuine feeling behind them.

It was almost like this was an inconvenience to him, and he wanted to wrap things up quickly so he could get to whatever he was going to do.  

In reality, there wasn’t much inconvenience to him at all. I doubt that there was any damage to his vehicle. He was driving a Jeep with big bars protecting his grill.

All the inconvenience is mine. If I don’t report this and he jams on me, this will be way beyond an inconvenience. I really need to make the right decision today.

Here’s the thing: Many times we act like the guy who hit my car. With sin, we are the ones at fault, but we act like it’s no big deal, and that it’s just an inconvenience to us. In reality, it was an inconvenience for Christ to go to the cross to pay for our sin. When I say “inconvenience” for Him, I mean way beyond inconvenience – a million times more. So when we sin and feel like it’s a minor infraction, think again at what it cost Christ to rectify that minor infraction for you.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: How would you assess your attitude to God when seeking His forgiveness? Leave your comments and questions below.

by

I Hit Trees; I Don’t Hug Them

I had a run-in with a tree the other day. It didn’t work out so well for me.

It was dusk when I went for a ride on the trails. I guess my depth perception was not quite on spec with the low lighting.

I cut a corner kind of tight and my shoulder clipped a tree as I went by. I think I only polished the bark of the tree, but it gave me a nice-sized raspberry.

It almost, but not quite, knocked me off my bike. It did send me on a collision course with another tree. Fortunately, I kept my balance and narrowly avoided the tree on the other side of the trail.

It’s not the first time I’ve been stopped by a tree while riding trails on my mountain bike.

There was one time when I came around a corner, and a recent storm had caused a large tree branch to hang over the trail at about shoulder height.

Well, I caught that tree with the upper part of my left arm and it kicked me right off the back of my bike. It was like I had hit the ejector button on my seat.

This time I think I misjudged the tree because I couldn’t see the trail as well as I needed to. I had some glasses on that go clear when there is little light, but I think they may have been slightly fogged up.

At any rate, soon after my incident with the tree, I took my glasses off and could see the trail and obstacles a lot better.

If this had happened years ago, that tree would have been thinner and maybe it wouldn’t have been so close to the trail. If I had hit it when it was young, it would have moved with my impact and provided a little give.

But now that tree was solid; it never even budged. It almost seemed like it was leaning in towards the trail just a little … like it was waiting for me to come by just to give me a shot.

I’m not blaming the tree; it’s not like it tripped me up. I was the one steering my bike. I take full responsibility for pointing my wheel too close and leaning in a little too early.

But I tell you, I went from traveling at about 12 km per hour to about 2, in one second.

It was like those crash tests that they do with automobiles. The auto manufacturers do it to test air bags and the car’s crash engineering. They put a dummy inside a vehicle and then they drive the vehicle into a brick wall.

In my case, I was the dummy.

I wasn’t trying to prove anything, but I now know how those dummies feel, that’s for sure.

Here’s the thing: We can be going along in life and rather quickly run into some kind of trial that stops us instantly. How you respond to that trial is important. You need to improve your eyesight, take assessment of the situation, and then put your focus on the trail ahead. Often on a trail we can’t see very far ahead, so rely on the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Seek Him regularly and often to stay on the path and avoid further obstacles along the way.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What obstacles have knocked you back lately and how are you responding? Leave your comments below.