Going over the grapevine...

I was feeling pretty good on Friday, and decided that I was going to drive down to Pasadena to see my sister. I have discovered that as much as I enjoy traveling with other people, I absolutely love traveling alone. I can listen to whatever I want on the radio or on my ipod, and I don't have to converse with anybody if I so choose. If my phone rings, and I don't feel like talking, I don't have to answer my phone.
I have been contemplating this whole being still thing that the Bible talks about (read blog below). In fact my devotional for the past two days have been on similar topics. Before I started over the grapevine I stopped to get gas in my vehicle that is not environment friendly, but I love it. I had been thinking about said topic above on and off from the beginning of my trip. After I filled up, I hoped back in my car, turned on my ipod...but my ipod didn't turn on! I panicked for a second. There is no radio station that I am aware of that comes in over the grapevine, i don't have a cd player in my car, just a good ol' tape player (and I didn't have my Wilson Phillips tape with me). That meant 40 or so minutes with silence! Now, I am ok with being in a car with a person, the radio on, and no talking, but the whole silence thing really freaked me out. Just me and my thoughts for 40 minutes...it is kind of a scary thing when you know what I think about.
Then I had another thought. Maybe this was God's way of making me slow down a bit and spend some much needed quality time with him. I am not one to over spiritualize things, but do believe that God cares about every detail of our lives, and since I have been thinking about such things, I really believe that the whole ipod thing not working was not a coincidence.
It was a time of much dialogue between me and God, dialogue about different things in my life that I am having a hard time with, one could even say struggling with. It made me think of when Jacob and the angel of the Lord wrestled ,Genesis 32:22-30, except I will not be walking with a limp for the rest of my life. I have realized that I love struggling with the Lord, because every time I do, the outcome is that I know Him and His love in a deeper way. Now, don't get me wrong, the struggle can last for awhile, it is no walk in the park, but it is always worth it.
When I got over the grapevine and onto the 210, I was sure that the Lord was going to allow my ipod to work. Well, I was wrong, which really bummed me out. Last night, which was Saturday night, for some reason I tried my ipod again, and it turned on. I was stoked. But then that made me think about how much I value the things I own, my possessions...but since it was bed time I decided that would have to be a struggle for a different day and thoughts for a different blog.