You have to commit to it

Lots of people HATE parallel parking. I remember back in high school everyone spent countless hours practicing it JUST in case they had to do it on their driver's test. NOW as an adult, I still see countless people avoid parallel parking spots OR struggle for 5 minutes to get their car just right. Well, I just have to brag for a minute but I AM AWESOME at parallel parking. I don't remember the last time I hit a curb OR even had to adjust. Last Thursday, Mocha Monkey- here's my effort-

Car behind me: IN the street- ME: 2 tires 6 inches from the curb!

I would never write a blog to brag about my parallel parking, that isn't ALL that exciting. BUT for those of you who struggle with it, I want to share my two keys to parallel parking. #1- you have to start in the right spot. Pull 3/4 of the way up in the car in front of you. #2- you have to COMMIT to it. Let the car move back with the wheel entirely one way and then once you are diagonal, turn the wheel ALL they way back the other direction.

Now that you are an AWESOME parallel parker, let me draw a parallel to your faith life. First, we have to make sure we are in the right spot. Too many times we begin to hear what the world says about us. We start to hear we aren't smart enough, or tall enough, or pretty enough, or good enough. We get in a spot that's ALL negative. But THAT'S not the spot God wants us in. We are children of God- it states this in Galatians- ²⁶ So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, ²⁷ for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. We aren't trash, we are children of God. 

Second, we have to make sure we are making the commitment to God. Have you ever tried a life jacket out in the bath tub first? Probably not, you jumped into the lake with the faith that the life jacket would work. My point is, we need to have faith every day that God is in control. A great Biblical example of this is the disciples in the boat. (FULL STORY) A BIG storm comes up and the disciples are terrified. What's Jesus doing? He's sleeping! They wake Jesus up and Jesus calms the storm. Now, this story is great because of it's deeper context. What was the occupation of many of the disciples before they followed Jesus? They were fishermen. So they were EXPERTS on the water! But yet, when the storm came, they panicked. And while they panicked- Jesus was right there the whole time. Jesus was still in control. 

The same is true now. God is still in control during any storms we may encounter in our lives whether it be a relationship ending, a stressful time with family, or the struggle that is parallel parking. 

Remember to make sure you are in the right spot remembering YOU are a child of God! Then make sure to daily commit to God. God is in control AND that person in control loves YOU a WHOLE LOT!