Even A GRATEFUL Heart Can Get You a Speeding Ticket

I posted this Facebook status update (copied below) shortly before the events of this blog took place:

"Every time I think life is at maximum difficulty, there is something else that gets thrown in our mix to shake things back up and God proves life could always get harder.

I am trying to live the life Joel Osteen states we can live in his book, "Make Every Day a Friday." He reminds me to say THANK YOU for the house we live in, despite the fact that so many things have broken or fallen apart since we bought it... THANK YOU for the two beautiful boys we have rather than complain about the fact that we sleep 4-5 hours a night and take them to the doctor's office multiple times a week... THANK YOU for the jobs we have that we love doing, even though we work all hours of the day when we aren't with our kids... and THANK YOU for the friends and family we have, even though we might not get to see them enough in person to tell them.

THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. I know I am blessed."

This afternoon, as I was driving home, I was thinking about this post I had written shortly before leaving work, when I passed a church in Perrysburg with a sign that read, "A greatful heart is the key to joy."  Three thoughts struck me as I read the sign:

1. Dang it, I want that key to joy!!!
2. God put that sign there to reassure my Facebook post.
3. I was GRATEFUL I knew the correct spelling of the word GRATEFUL and wondered if the church had misspelled it on purpose when.......

          I got pulled over for speeding.

As the cop made his slow stroll toward my minivan, I tried to keep it together.  However, I lost the inner battle with my emotions and the tears started flowing.  (I blame it on my extreme fatigue and challenging week.) When Mr. Cop asked me why I was speeding, I made no mention of the ironic events I had seriously been pondering OR the grateful heart I was trying to have.  Instead I just cried, choked out my phone number, and told him I didn't know the speed limit. After checking my license, he asked if I still lived in Toledo.  I informed him we had recently moved here.

I'd like to say that the cop had a genuine concern for my tears and gave me a warning, but he did not.

I got the big blue bill.

As he gave me the ticket, he muttered, "Drive carefully", without making eye contact, and sent me on my blubbering way.  I am fairly certain he felt awkward since I was sobbing (the flood gate had burst), but I don't blame him.  There is probably a sign in his Perrysburg office that reads, "If you give every mother who cries a warning, we'll never make any money in this town"... so I forgive him.  He was just doing his job.

At first I was angry and sad.  I don't really care a lot about the ticket.  The money can always be justified by statements like:

• "Think of all the times I haven't got caught speeding!" 
• "It's the first ticket I've gotten in almost ten years." 
• "Dominic doesn't care. In fact, he won $200 dollars at work today which should cover it."
• "This shouldn't put too big of a dent in my insurance."  
• and the always encouraging, "At least we don't have a car payment!"

I think I was just angry and sad because it's embarrassing to get a ticket... and because I had just posted that life can always get harder.

So that brings me back to my grateful heart, which if you recall is supposed to be the key to JOY.

Here goes:
I am GRATEFUL to be an able-bodied citizen who can operate a motor vehicle... even if it is sometimes at too fast of a pace.
I am GRATEFUL to have a car to drive that allowed me to get pulled over.
I am GRATEFUL that our society has police officers who keep us safe from others... including ourselves. 
I am GRATEFUL that at the end of the day I can smile about this whole thing and know that it's not that big of a deal.