Wendi {at random}

When I hop in Anderson Cooper (my car) and drive off, I'm usually tuning out something. It could be NPR because I just don't care about what's happening in Egypt at that moment. It could be Benjy because I don't really want to hear about what so-and-so did at school today. It could be Camden because I don't need to be reminded about what it's like to be 11 (read, awkward).

But today I had a special 15-minute drive all by my self. I dropped the boys off at karate and headed to Michael's to get some supplies  for our Christmas presents to our parents. Yes, this was a schooly thing. My favorite Christmas CD was playing, the one by Casting Crowns, and this song came on:

I cranked up the volume. I sang along. The song ended, so I replayed it.

I boosted the volume to 30 and sang louder.

When it was over, I replayed it again.

And pressed volume to 39. Because I could.

I belted it out. I tried to harmonize, but didn't care if it worked or not. I cried. Tears welled up in my eyes for the baby who was wrapped in dirty blankets. 

No room.

Tears for a people who killed the very rescuer who they were looking for.

Tears for a country that "saves the trees and kills the children." 

I don't often get all teary when I drive. I'm often too busy tuning out things and shushing children and looking out for deer or squirrels or Yankees that may dart into my path. So when I have the chance to tune in to just one sound, just one, I can sink deep into it. 

And so it was that in the parking lot at Michael's, I was praising God and turning off the headlights and wipers at the same time. I practically floated into the store, still singing in my head.

Of course, by the time I reached the glitter aisle, I lost the tune. All I could summon was this:

Romans 12 ~ (The Message)

 ^1-2 So here's what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.