Fish Tailing

Today, we had about eight inches of snow.  It came down hard and fast.  It also came down wet.  That means it was very icy.  I had to work all day and it was so nice to watch it fall outside.  I suppose that I have lived too much of my life in the desert of Arizona to be appreciative of the hazards of new snow.  I spent too many warm winters and so the prospect of snow is a welcome diversion from the normal everyday life that I am used to. 
I must admit, it is probably one of the top reasons to move from the desert to the northern Arizona pines.  I love it up here, in all the seasons, but especially in the winter.  The wind blows cold, your windows frost over, the fireplace is always going, and hot chocolate is the most amazing drink ever invented!  I was sooooo looking forward to going home and sitting in front of the fire with a cup of hot chocolate and a book.  However, that was not what I got to do. 
First, I have some friends that I check up on and make sure they are doing ok.  Bob Ober was not feeling well.  His wife Joyce, called John to come and give him a blessing.  John went to do that and called me to ask if I would go over after work and check Bob's blood pressure and lung sounds.  I drove home from work in a blizzard.  (Yes, they do have those in Arizona!). 

I spent 45 minutes looking for my EMT bag with all my equipment and finally found it under the dresser.  I drove to the Ober's in an even worse blizzard and promptly got my car stuck in their driveway.  I went in, took a look at Bob, got a humidifier going and let Joyce know that everything looked good, and their son, Pat, helped me get the truck unstuck. 

Then I drove home to pick up Miracle and take her to her friend Jessie's house to spend the night.  Of course, this whole time the snow has been falling and blowing.  I drove Miracle over to Jessie's, talked with her mother for a while, and started to drive home.  I do not own a four wheel drive vehicle (although I mightily wish that I did!). 
The truck does not like the snow which has continued to fall the entire time.  So, now when I needed to go home, the back tires couldn't get the traction that they needed and we kept fish-tailing all the way down the roads.  The back of the truck would swing to the right, than to the left, than do a slow circle.  I am not happy to find myself doing circles down the highway!  I am definately staying in the rest of the night! 
Anyway, it occured to me that our earthlife is a lot like my truck driving in this snow storm.  It is not easy to do!  You start on the straight and narrow road, and you can make a mistake (on purpose or accidently) and find yourself doing 360 degree turns down the road.  There are a lot of outside influences that have an impact on how smooth or rough our journey goes.  But the goal of arriving safe at home is the same for each one of us. 

I wonder if perhaps Satan acts just a little bit like the ice on the road.  Sometimes we can see it there, and sometimes we cannot.  But if we are not careful, we will find ourselves upside down, in a ditch, off the road and in the wilderness.  Let us each work harder to make sure that our earthly vehicles are equiped with everything they need in order to help us make the journey home.  Let's not spend too much of our time fish-tailing down the road of life.