Follow the Leader

By Renae Brumbaugh

 

I don’t have the best luck with cars. Last week, my insurance company decided to total my perfectly-drivable, hail-damaged 2007 Toyota Camry Hybrid. I loved my Camry, and have waited patiently since April to get it fixed, so this wasn’t the best news. Two years ago, I scored a suh-weet Grandma-driven, garage- kept Prius, and it was totaled when a bully-of-a-mac-truck rear-ended me. Enter, my Camry. Now, due to no fault of my own, I was back at square one. Since I found both the Prius and the Camry on Craigslist, I decided to start there. But since I live out in the boonies now, I knew I’d have to drive some distance to the Metroplex to find most of the listings. Or, Superman would have to drive, which was fine by me. So last Saturday morning, Superman, the boy-child, and I piled into our remaining, non-hail-damaged car with a list of must-see Craigslist ads. First up, a shiny black, leatherinterior Toyota Avalon— my favorite on the list. I knew this would be the car, and we wouldn’t have to view the others. We got there, and the shiny black car was a dent-covered, rust-infested pile of sadness. Yes, the upholstery was leather. It was also cut in several places, with the stuffing hanging out. Uh, no. On to number two. This was even worse than number one. It looked like a drug car that had seen one too many transactions. Number three . . . cracked dashboard. Number four . . . just plain ugly. By this time, we’d driven for several hours and we were starved. We stopped for lunch and used our handy-dandy smart phones to search Craigslist again. Don’t you just love smart phones? Sure enough, there was a new listing. Just posted that morning. We had two more from our original list, and they were both on the way to the newest post, so we stopped for both of them. No, and no. I was about to give up and become a walker when we pulled up to the last car. A 2007 Camry. It was beautiful. Not a ding or scratch on it. The leather interior was nearly flawless, save a couple of small marks on the dashboard. But, did it drive well? We took it for a test-drive. Smooth as silk. And lower in miles than my previous Camry. And the best news? We paid below the amount the insurance company gave me for my other car. Oh, yeah. God is good to me. But there was just one problem. This car was two and a half hours from my house. And I had to drive back through the Metroplex to get home. Does anybody out there actually enjoy driving in the big city? If so, I’d like to meet you. You are truly a unique person. I wasn’t created for city driving. I’m not going to win any awards for driver-of-the-year, even on backwoods, country roads. But put me on a crowded interstate, and I

get more jittery than Elmo on his third Coca-Cola. Plus, we all know I have the directional sense of a guacamole dip. “Just follow me,” Superman said. “Just don’t leave me,” I replied. In case you aren’t up on your comic book heroes, Superman likes to zoom . . . “I won’t leave you. I promise.” Well, he was true to his word . . . sort of. But when we got out on that busy highway, drivers all around had no regard for the fact that I was trying to follow someone. If I didn’t stay right on the Sman’s tailgate, somebody would cut between us. Sometimes two or three somebodies. And before long I was on the verge of hyperventilating, scared I’d have a wreck and die and scratch up my new car. Or worse . . . what if I got lost in the ghetto and, and, and scratched my new car? I sat up tall in my seat and craned my neck, trying to keep Superman in my scope. Eventually, the cutter-cutter-peanutbutter

cars moved out of the way, and I pulled close again. All the way home we did this little dance, somebody getting between us, me straining to see where he was going, and finally catching up again. And guess what? I made it home, safe and sound. All because I kept my eye on the leader. Sometimes I get freaked out about life. I get nervous and jittery. I worry that something bad will happen, or I’ll get lost. And as much as I try to keep my eyes on God, people and things just get in the way. But I was reminded of some pretty important things last weekend. First, when God takes something away, it’s often because He has something better in store. Second, He’ll never leave me. Third, when things come along to block my view of Him, I just need to stand a little taller. Stretch my neck a little further. He’s always there, and if I stay focused on Him, He’ll always lead me where I need to go.

“Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life,’” John 8:12 ESV