Matthews Family Herald

"Fahrshule" literally means "travel school" but is understood here (in Germany) to mean driver's education. My sons love the fact that since "Fahrt" means here to travel by vehicle, they can yell out this word in public without the usual reactions they'd get in America. I named this post "travel school," though, because that's where I've been.

When I first arrived in Germany, I had big hopes of getting a little car that I could use for work. Instead, I ended up using the public transportation here for several reasons. The Lord said to :), saves a lot of money, gets me just about anywhere, better for the environment, etc. Germany has an elaborate system of buses, trolleys, and trains. At varying times and in intervals of usually about 20 minutes apart (like labor contractions - not that I've been in labor), there's some form of transportation that will make a stop at nearly just about anywhere. What's so cool is that for one, flat rate, you can use them all and mix or match your way to a destination.

At first, I kept trying to "manipulate" or "play" the system with different combinations of travel modes and locations in order to try and get home faster. But no matter which way I chose to go, I'd either arrive at the same time anyway or end up being late because of unfamiliarity with new surroundings, etc. It reminded me of how I used to switch lanes while driving in a traffic jam (stawberry ones are my favorite, Grape ones I cannot stand), only to find that the lane I moved to ended up being the slower lane later on. Grrr! (Yes, I just said "Grr.")

I was thinking about how that all ties into walking with God (not the labor contractions and strawberry jam part). He also has a plan for our lives that plays out each day through an elaborate and well-orchastrated series of circumstances. It's so tempting, and I think we all try (at least sometimes) to find a way to get what we want (stawberry jam, for example) our way (by going into labor, perhaps) or to speed things up (hurry with that bagel, this next contraction could be "the one!") or change the outcome, but in the end, we just make things worse when we do that. (Honey, I can't believe you just ralphed stawberry bagels all over the delivery room people!) We have to trust what God is doing, how He works, and how He has things unfold and realize it's okay. We'll get to where He wants us to go and no need to try and control the situation and bend it to our advantage. That's what I learned at Fahrschule today, mama.