Driving Straight

I grew up in the country as a girl.  There were plenty of little chores that needed to be done like bringing up the milk cow, gathering eggs, driving cows from one pasture to another, and DRIVING the old green pick up.  The last one was quite fun for a little tween girl.  Grandpa Jones would put it in low gear and I would drive it as he would throw bales of hay on the back or on the trailer it was pulling.  I loved cranking up the old radio and thinking that I was all that because I was driving.

My first few times of this I had a little problem.  I wouldn't drive straight in the field.  I thought that I was going straight but all the grass and hay look the same and sure enough I would be going crooked headed over a dike in the field.  Grandpa would say, "Shauna look down the field and find a fence post.  Don't take your eyes off the post and you will go straight to it."  AND it worked!  However if I wouldn't concentrate on a fence post and was busy messing with the radio, gawking out my side window or chatting with a sister in the passenger seat, I would end up meandering around the field.

I haven't thought about this memory until this past week.  I was mowing our lot.  It was really hard to tell property lines because of the tall grass, so I just guesstimated and went for it.  After I made my first cut and looked back behind me, I was embarrassed at how curvy my cut path was.  Of course Ashley had been riding with me and bouncy around on my lap AND I was gawking at Nathan shooting on his goal AND looking at the wild flowers.  Well, after I saw that ridiculously crooked line, that memory of Grandpa Jones popped into my head.  So as I made my way on the next side of the lot I found my fence post and concentrated on it.  Sure enough when I approached the fence and turned to look at my line it was STRAIGHT.  Grandpa knew what he was talking about.

So as I sat there riding around our lot I thought about the importance of keeping your eye on course and not deviating.  When you get distracted you lose sight of the course your on and it takes a while to get back on.  I know that in my life I need to keep my head up and my eyes fixed on Christ.  Then I can drive my life straight.
Thanks for the life lesson Grandpa, I sure do miss you!