Antique Cars

 

Special Guest Blogger: Heather Thomas

Fifteen seconds after the doctor ran my test for COVID-19, she giggled and said, “Wow, that came back fast. You’re positive!” I didn’t doubt the results as I had been quite sick for a couple days leading up to Christmas of 2020.  After my diagnosis, I got the same question that seemed to baffle everyone, “How are you going to stay in your house for two weeks?”  I laughed because to me, that sounds like Heaven.  I am 100% an introvert by nature.  Technology has made it to where I can order all my groceries with the swipe of a finger and if I want a pizza, that too.  I will also mention I have no children but, five fur babies.  My husband takes care of us not only financially but, does anything he can to help around the house.  While Coronavirus did have me quite sick, a couple weeks of solitude and rest did not bother me.  

The idea of slowing down is almost foreign to some.  When you’re going slow, you tend to pay more attention to things.  Maybe that’s why people don’t want to slow down.  It tends to highlight things you want to suppress or hide.  It forces you to deal with things that are easier to tuck away when your schedule is packed full.  In truth, being busy is a coping mechanism for many. 

I’ll never forget the first time I rode Millennium Force.  If you’re unaware, Millennium Force is a steel coaster located at Cedar Point.  It’s about 300 feet tall and its top speed is 93MPH.  The ride runs parallel to the shoreline of Lake Erie and the view is gorgeous. Let me just tell you that by the time the ride was done, I am pretty sure I had blacked out from the first hill, I was nauseated to the point that I had to sit down, and I didn’t get to enjoy any of the beautiful sights!  When you’re zipping through hills and turns at incredible speeds, there isn’t a single moment to take anything in.  It was a frenzy of loudness and fast-moving track!  

As I get older, I more prefer the Antique Cars at King’s Island.  Maybe it’s because I can no longer handle the flips and turns or, maybe it’s because I have a new perspective on life.  I can remember riding in the Antique Cars as a child.  In the calm, stillness of going a few miles an hour I can hear my siblings giggling and my Mom steering. (Mom was never the best driver!) I can remember my Dad pointing out the different types of flowers and plants in the gardens that surrounded the track.   He was always passionate about horticulture.  When we slowed down, there was so much to take in.  

In the last couple years, the story of Lazarus has become one of my favorites.  In John 11, when Jesus heard of his friend’s illness he didn’t immediately respond.  He waited on His Father’s timing.  Had Jesus come sooner, the miracle of Lazarus’ healing would not have occurred.  How many people were impacted that day because of Jesus’ ability to wait?  How many times are we getting ahead of God in our own plans or agendas?  If Jesus, who had the most important ministry in history, saw pausing and reflecting as important, how much should we as His followers?  

There are so many encouraging scriptures to help us pause and reflect:   

Psalm 62:5: “For God alone, my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him.”

Isaiah 40:31: “But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.”

Lamentations 3:25: “The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him.”

Matthew 11:28: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”

Psalm 46:10: “Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”

Luke 5:15-16: “Yet the news about him spread all the more, so that crowds of people came to hear him and to be healed of their sicknesses. But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.”

If I make it to King’s Island this summer, I think I’ll make the Antique Cars my first stop.  Hopefully, my nieces and nephews will jump in a car with me.  As we drive along the slow track, I pray we make some of the same memories I now hold so dear to my heart.  Friend, if you find yourself on the fast, crazy track of life today, maybe take a second to step off, slow down and reflect.  Life isn’t meant to be lived one event after another.  It’s not meant to be one high to the next.  That type of living is not sustainable.  But what is sustainable and what has never let me down is the love of God.  He always holds true.