Idle time

It seems like I have a lot idle time and I don’t know what to do. I know I work a full time job and thank God for that but its only forty hours. People look at me weird sort of way when I say that. Maybe you do too! If you don’t know I’m so used to working truck driving hours. Working a normal work week is boring. You see as a truck driver you are require to work 70 hours that’s just what the books say. He or she drives for 11 hours plus 4 hours on duty non-driving. Now that’s just on the books. Let’s look at a typical day for a driver.

A usual day I wake up at 4:30 am do the paperwork the Dot wants to see. By 4:45am on the road to finish last part of my run where there is no traffic and easier to find the destination. I get to final at around 7:00am check in with guard and warehouse personnel. Back into spot if there is one usually got to wait a couple hours. Mean while take a nap, if you can because now people are bouncing you all over there place going in and out of the trailer. Also your boss/dispatcher is messaging you when are you going to be done, go find out. You never do that but you play the game because you don’t want the customer mad at you and keep you there longer. About 10:00-11:00 you’re released and now you’re waiting for the next load. You try to find a spot to park in the mean time. Just as you get settled your boss gives you a load but it 70 miles down the road. It’s about 1:00pm now and by the time you get to next destination its 3:00pm. You get out talk to the guard check in to ware house people and get loaded now its 4:30-5:00pm and guess what you have to be at your destination by 7:30am the next morning. Are you tired yet? Hope not because you have 550 miles to drive by then. Most trucks are now govern and set 68-70 mph. So that means 8 hours of driving. You got to get fuel and something to eat that’s an hour and since its rush hour traffic time because all you 4 wheeler clogged up the highways going home from your measly 8 hour day we will add one hour. (A jab)That’s 10 hours I get a 2 hour nap in a rest area. Thank God. Can’t wait till the weekend when I get full nights rest because the warehouses aren’t usually open Saturday or Sunday. Thank you forty hour people for not working my hours because sure do need a little nap. If you refuse the load or are late you will sit where ever you are for a couple days that means no pay. That means staying out even longer, away from your family and friends if you have any left when you get there. The truth is you will not have any friends because you are not in their lives.When you come home you’re dead tired and the last thing you want is to drive even if it’s around the corner.

So I’m trying to figure out what to do. I volunteer at the food bank its only 3 hours on Tuesdays. I am taking classes on line. I am learning to play the guitar. Don’t laugh if you know me because you will understand this is a God thing. I’m not musically inclined at all. And I’m laughing myself because its so funny to see God use me in ways that I never thought of. I still feel like there is so much time I have. I don’t know what to do.

What road are you on?

What road are you on? I got a saying,” God's road should not be different than your road.” What is God’s road? Well lets look at the two greatest commandments in Matthew.

Jesus replied: “‘LOVE the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with your entire mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'LOVE your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." Matthew 22:37-40

Now in both commandments there is a word LOVE. What is God’s love? The love word comes from a Greek word called agape.

Agape (pronounced/ˈæɡəpiː/AG-ə-pee; after the Classical Greek agápē; Modern Greek: αγάπη [aˈɣapi]) is one of several Greek words translated into English as love. Many have thought that this words represents divine,unconditional,self-sacrificing, active, volitional, and thoughtful love.

So now are you getting the picture God loves you unconditionally. In order to follow the road of God you should Love yourself and your neighbor unconditionally. He made you. He loves you. He made your neighbor. He loves your neighbor. Let’s go through the day and concentrate on how we love yourself and our neighbor. Did we simply put on a smile, open the door, and pick up something on the ground to keep someone from tripping on it. Did we make that phone call to your family and friends just to make sure they are having a good day? Maybe just picking up the newspaper in the rain and putting on the porch so they don’t have to walk in the rain. Small things matter to God and that’s what love is, small.