There was some excitement over here at our home last week as Gavin got his license! We are so excited for him! Two drivers in two years. It's crazy but a gift to watch our kids grow.

While teaching Gavin to drive this year, and Kate last year, I wasn't only teaching them but I was being refined in the process as well. I loved the time with my kids in the car but to be honest, I didn't love the process of teaching them to drive. There was a sermon I heard last year while teaching Kate and the wisdom was so timely, it became something I meditated on again and again as I drove with her last year, and while driving with Gavin this year. The line from the sermon that struck a chord with me was...

"Over Under React."
- Andy Stanley

I realized through the process of teaching Kate and Gavin to drive is that I at times overreact. It's not absurd to react when you think your head may hit a mailbox...yet mine never did. That was the story in my head, not the reality. And I realized when I felt out of control I allowed the emotions of what might happen lead me rather than the truth of what was actually happening be my guide. Did Kate and Gavin need to be redirected at times? Yes. Yet the way I was reacting needed to be refined, just as their driving did. The reality is that sometimes my reactions stirred up more chaos in the car that could have lead to an accident rather than help avoid one from happening.

Whether or not you have ever taught someone to drive, have you ever overreacted at times?

What I have learned is that I am quick to react when I feel out of control when my kids are driving. These three words from the sermon were a saving grace - when I practiced them. To help me put them into practice I would repeat them in my head, and sometimes out loud...

Over Under React.

I share this with you today in case you have a student driver and/or you too are someone who can overreact when someone says or does something, or you feel out of control. I invite you to join me to…

pause. breathe. pray.™

May we choose to over under react. These three words remind me of a wise saying by Holocaust survivor, Victor Frankl. He said, "Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom."

The thing is, we don't always give space between stimulus and response. Instead there is a stimulus and then we react. Let's choose to practice creating space between stimulus and our response to it. And in that space is when we can invite God in to help us give a healthy, productive response, rather than a quick, destructive reaction. So as we walk through this Advent season, when our schedules can be busier, and we may tend to react quickly than respond prayerfully, let's choose to invite God in to help us over under react. By creating space between stimulus and response, we can grow more prayerful which will keep us closer to God this Christmas season, and help us be the reflection of His love that we are called to be, especially to the kids in our lives.

With love and hope,

Shawn