LESSONS FROM DRIVING IN BRITISH COLUMBIA

• Obey the traffic signs and rules, otherwise a ticket or a destructive accident is waiting for us! Obedience to God and His words will guard our path from things that will endanger and threaten us. We will stay safe as we live in a complete obedience. Obedience also leads us into a fullness and a blessed life. For some people, the word 'obedience' is abstract. The word however is very practical; it means as simple as following the rules. Do what we have to do and do not do what we are not allowed to do.

• Follow the GPS or Google map directions to make sure that we are on track! Many times we need to completely lean on God's direction instead of our own strength and wisdom. Read your Bible and you will not be lost. Why don't we do FB (Facing our Bible) with discipline? The Bible is our GPS, isn't it? No one knows what the end of our lives look like, we only need to ensure that the very next step of our path is right. What amazing is the fact that like GPS, when we do wrong, God will always redirect us to the right place. God is leading our lives according to His beautiful and merciful plan. Lean on God always!

• Do not speed our car, even when the road looks empty and our car seems to be powerful! We need to practice self control and patience. The empty road may symbolize a life without problems. To be honest with you, when our lives look easy and smooth, it is exactly the time when we need to practice self control the most. In addition to that, be patient! Often we want instant results. God seems to appreciate the process more than simply the result. Eventually, the ultimate goal of our lives is to have a Christ-like-character. We are not judged by our possession, profession, ambition, achievement and even physical appearance. Our highest achievement (Leistung) in this ephemeral earthly life is the Christ-likeness of our character.

• Do not forget to put on safety-belt regardless whether a policeman is there or not! Don't you believe that safety belt is our best friend while driving a car. Safety belt sometimes may bother us. Like my own father, we may feel less comfortable with it. However, in unexpected disaster, it may be very helpful to save our very lives. We may feel that our lives are secure, especially since we live in a country with a good social security system. The truth is there is no real security on earth. Life is fragile. Many kinds of calamity can happen to anyone at any time and place. In that unwanted situation, our 'safety belt' may reduce the damage we have to face. Who are our 'safety belt'? They may be our family, friends, colleagues, brothers and sisters in the church, pastors, teachers, etc. God sends them not to provide us a comfy life. Instead they are there to assist, to support and to help us finishing our race well and safe.

• Please use tires appropriately according to the season! Snowing requires winter tires to secure our driving experience. In many areas of life, applying proper resources, tools and methodology will result in higher performances. the quality of our lives' performances will be very much depend on the tools, resources and methods we adopt. Here are the keys for an effective and fruitful life: (1) Best resource is to live according to God's calling; (2) Best tool is to live by the gifts God has been bestowing in us; (3) Best methodology is to live in a spirit of excellence (we need to learn to avoid giving our second best).

• Please check your air care status, especially when you are driving an old vehicle! Older car may cause pollution that may jeopardize other people's lives. We are taught to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. When we love others and care for them, we show our love to God. I was taught in a post-graduate course concerning what we understand as public policy analysis. A process of a decision making that affects public has to consider first the need of the majority of people - not the minority elite and powerful group (unfortunately enough, in most cases this minority group possesses the power to execute the decision). When we 'drive' our lives, please consider not only us but also other living beings whom God graciously pours His eternal love. They are too precious in God's eyes. We are often angry at someone who broke our belongings? We sometimes feel the pain because of the wreck. God too is hurt when we damage His beautiful creation. The late Mother Theresa always said while she was washing the feet of a leper, 'I wash the feet of Jesus.' Do we see God in His creation? Do we see God in other people's lives?

• A stop sign requires us to do a complete stop. Wisdom says, 'time is money'; in fact time runs very fast and we cannot control it. We often race against time and money. A new term 'workaholic' points a work-addicted person. We often become a workaholic in the name of time, money, needs, career, ambition and even sometimes in the name of God. When our lives run like an automatic machine, a stop sign is needed. Please do a complete stop and ask God if this is a life God has planned for us. Even God himself did a rest and a complete stop on the seventh day of Sabbath. A complete stop for a while may provide us double or even triple energy to continue our bright challenging future victoriously.

• Do not buy gasoline in the US only because of the lower price! It sounds funny, doesn't it. We are certainly free to buy gasoline at any place. We only need to calculate on how many litters gasoline we have to spend to reach the nearest US gas station (return). In addition to that, I hope you agree with me that time is more precious than dollar. Cost analysis is important in an effective and efficient life. Remember that a mistake in setting up our lives' priority leads to a wrong spending of our resources.