Testing our resolve

Joe&Tina have decided that living in Minnesota is a really good test of how much we love the Lord and what kind of Christian we are. We have attended church all but two of the weeks we have lived here so far. Lest you think we are heathens, one of the weeks we were in Springfield and one of the weeks Tina had to work the Vikings game and there wasn't enough time to go to church. Of the weeks we have gone to church services, it has been snowing or has snowed significantly within the 24 hour period before we attended church. We have yet to arrive on time to a service, usually getting slowed down by snow or getting lost or being unable to find parking. Each time, Joe has had to repent of his rather unpleasant attitude (and occasionally his vocabulary) on the way to church. We regularly have to overcome the urge to throw in the towel as we watch the clock tick past the start time for church and we are still driving around. This morning, for example, we had been on the internet checking out this church. We had listened to a couple of sermons, looked at the map, committed the street address to memory, verified the directions with Google maps. Unfortunately, Google maps didn't specify that the street that we needed to go to was not accessible from the street we would be coming from. It didn't tell us the route we would need to take. And, it didn't tell us that 301 North and 301 South were so close and yet so far from one another, separated by a bridge and three blocks of impassable road construction. Our various attempts were thwarted by the white fluff that was falling quickly from the sky, making every turn treacherous, especially all the wrong turns we took. We arrived 10 minutes late this morning. Last week, we were also 10 minutes late because it was (a) snowing and (b) there were no parking places anywhere near the church and we ended up circling the block twice. Luckily, the churches we are visiting are VERY laid back and we are usually not the last ones to walk in, even at our late time of arrival.

Another test of our resolve we have failed is in our response to the snowy weather, cold, poor driving conditions, traffic and the frustration that all the above bring us. What should be a 15 minute drive is usually a 30 minute drive. What is supposed to take 30 minutes ends up taking an hour. A route that appears correct on the map involves an exit that is inaccessible from the direction we're traveling. The rush hour lasts far beyond the time you would expect rush hour to end. I don't know how long we will live here before all of it seems normal and we know how much time to plan for to account for weather-traffic-construction related slowdowns. I wonder how soon it will be before we too can understand and embrace all the oddities of the Twin Cities' highway system. When will our drives end in calm, serene, joyful feelings? When will we be Christ-like enough not to let a few travel woe's lead us into sin? Perhaps our prayer should be ".....and lead us not into traffic but deliver us from travel delays...."