stop....look... and listen

It's really a simple concept. Most of us learned it when we were little and were learning to cross the street.... or in my case, the oil top road. It became different when I went to college. The phrase is also used in Marketing when one is determining the next course of action. Then, our country went to war with Iraq and the "Stop, Look & Listen" catch phrase became a staple of organizations encouraging "Peace in the Middle East". But... it means even more after today.

Wanna know something else? (Keep in mind that I have FIVE DAYS worth of blogs stored up in my little noggin!) I really am against the rat race. I'm so tired of being busy. I cannot tell you how nice it is to just sit here and type. In fact, it's a bit idyllic. People are so busy. Do we ever really STOP, LOOK and LISTEN to each other? I don't. I think if we did, we'd be shocked. To really stop though, you must do just that. STOP. Not slow down. I'm talking a slam-on-the-brakes-quit-cold-turkey S-T-O-P. When you're about to rear end some one, do you casually place your foot over the brake pedal and then just apply pressure? Heck no! You slam on those brakes because you and I know that we are not above looking like idiots to keep our insurance premiums down. Stopping is best done without thinking about it. In the words of NIKE- Just Do It.

I did that IT tonight. I STOPPED. And guess what? I'm still okay. I was driving home from work and saw a lady standing on the side of the road. Without even thinking... I literally stopped in the middle of the road and turned my flashers on. (The stopping I was ranting about earlier was theoretical, but the event is a great tie-in) I didn't even know what she needed. So I opened my passenger door and asked her to get in. She said that she had just gotten into a fight with her boyfriend and he had put her out on the side of the road. Now-- it's about 37 degrees and misting rain. She tells me where she needs to go and I head that direction. I ask her a few questions and start to tell her about the Lord. I stopped thinking about what she would think about me and more importantly--- if I was going to be the next Megan Holdenand just listened to her. We had maybe 5 minutes together, but I can't place a dollar value on the feeling that I got from stopping. I began to think about the people I dealt with today. I was able to STOP and spend time with a mom who really wanted to share some things with me.

I would go so far as to say that it's biblical to STOP. Yep, quit all the worrying about whether or not the house is clean or all my other "important" stuff had been done... and just S-T-O-P in the name of L-O-V-E.