I am fortunate to be able to concentrate enough in a moving vehicle to be able to do things like reading or writing, knitting or crochet, quilting or cross-stitch.  I love to be able to be doing something useful with both my hands and time, especially on a long car journey.  As I now live in a remote regional centre I have noticed recently just how bumpy and undulating country roads are.

This realisation will primarily be because the craft project I am currently engaged in is cross-stitch.  For the uninitiated, this involves making little ‘x’s across specific holes in fabric to create a bigger picture.  In a stationary position the main challenge is making sure you are counting the correct number of squares and corresponsiding holes to insert the needle to make the next stitch.  By transferring this activity to a moving vehicle it makes the needle accuracy a little more difficult.  Add on country road terrain and I find the needle popping up in completely the wrong location so I need to attempt it again, and again, and again.

I find myself getting increasingly frustrated as I bounce around in the front seat of our car, finding what would normally take me 3 minutes to complete in our lounge room can take up to 10 minutes to complete.  I get angrier and angrier at the countryside, at the suspension in the car, at my husband’s inability to drive more smoothly, at the government for not spending more to upgrade the roads, at the weather that has eaten away at the road surface, at the surveyor who decided this was a great place for a road … You name it, I get angry at them for my inability to achieve my task.

Just recently I have stopped to consider the suitability of this emotional response.  After all, surely trying to do craft in a moving vehicle carries with it risks in effectiveness.  I am the one who has made the choice to try this activity in a car on a country road.  I am the one trying to marry a craft project that requires a steady hand for accuracy with the fluctuating movement of a car.  I am the one, therefore, who needs to understand that this will not be an error free exercise.

When I think about this situation in connection to God I realise that He gets the blame for a lot of stuff in life.  I know that I have become angry at God for times when the set of circumstances leading to the consequence I was facing was purely my own choice, and often without me consulting Him, or me ignoring His leading in another direction.  So what is the solution?  Involving God in my life choices more and more, but not just the big – the small and everyday ones too.  Proverbs chapter 16 verse 3 says, “Commit your activities to the Lord, and your plans will be established.”

So while I will continue to cross-stitch in the car I will endeavour to keep my frustrations in check, and it will now also serve as a good reminder to keep including God in my day to day plans.

Be blessed.