Standing out

Christina and I went to Lake Forest area to see a friend (Andrew) get his Eagle Scout award. It was a lot of fun. Jonathan had a soccer game, so mom and dad were with him and were planning on joining us. The soccer game ended later than expected, but we were invited over to their house... or that is the understanding that I had. Then I handed the phone over to Mrs. Van Vlear to give my parents directions, and found out differently--slight miscommunication somewhere. She was extremely gracious, and made dinner for all of us which we were not expecting at all. I felt incredibly horrible, but they were all very kind. As we were driving over there, I was praying for God's wisdom in knowing when to leave. They didn't mind us staying for a while, so I almost forgot about that request, but God answered it anyway. It turns out that the highway closes at 8:30 pm due to construction stuff. Well, when I saw the sign for that, it was 8:17 pm and it said 11 miles ahead. I called mom and dad who were right behind me to see if they had seen the sign. I said... "I am going for it." I must confess, I did take the turns faster than the marked speed limit. It wasn't unsafe, but I shouldn't have done that. God was gracious, and we made it about 30 seconds before they closed it. If it would have been closed, we would have had to drive about 15 miles back to the freeway, and take a really long route to get home... like over 2 hrs. This doesn't excuse going faster than I should have, but I am very thankful that we made it. In Jeremiah 35, there is an example of a family that was committed to obedience. In this case, it was to not drink wine. They stood out from among the Israelites. It makes me think, what "little standards" do we have that are standing out to others as a godly example even though we may not realize it? We must remember that living for God in the small things is just as essential as the big things.