The one with the little green man

I was a little surprised to be honest.  There I stood, waiting patiently for the little green man due to materialise sometime soon - when a mother and child walked straight as if they were oblivious to the imminent appearance!  I couldn't understand why they would rush on by and miss the opportunity. 


It was a lovely sunny morning and I had just enjoyed walking my son to school.  The walk isn't particularly long, but it is a great way to wake up and clear your head.  The route is a pretty one which takes us along some nice roads and wide tree-lined footpaths.  Unfortunately - it also requires us to cross one busy road.  Thankfully, the little green man is there to help us safely across.

Since my own children have been old enough to walk with me, my attitude and conduct at pedestrian crossings has changed.  Previously, I would use them as the last resort.  If there seemed to be a reasonable gap in the traffic, why bother waiting for the little green man?  Wasn't this a waste of time?

But is this the attitude I would want to convey to my 9 year old boy?  Would I want him to follow my example and try to cross the road using his own judgement?  No way!!  The road is extremely busy at times, and as it is at a crossroads, it has traffic coming from different directions.  There is absolutely no way I would knowingly allow him to cross without the use of the green man!

It is very important to me that my boys learn to cross roads safely.  What would I be teaching them if I chose to ignore the red man warning, even if it appeared safe to cross?  It is no good telling the boys one thing, and my example suggesting something else altogether.

So now, instead of using my own judgement at pedestrian crossings, I make sure I always follow the correct procedure.  This is what I want my boys to do, and I am sure all parents would want their children to do the same.

Which is why I was so surprised this morning when, during rush hour traffic, the mother and her young daughter rushed past me whilst I stood patiently waiting for the green man. 

Thankfully they made it across safely, although they did have to run.

As I continued walking home afterwards, I thought a lot about this incident.  Why did this mother ignore the pedestrian crossing?   It was there to ensure a safe crossing.  It was there for her benefit.  And yet, she chose to ignore it.  She ignored the help offered, and relied on her own judgement instead.  She thought she knew better.  She grew impatient and took a risk.

Shocking eh?  I would never do such a thing ...

But as I indulged in some sort of self-superiority, something occurred to me that brought me back to earth, and wiped the smugness off my face. Whilst I may not behave this way at pedestrian crossings, there have been many times in my life where I have grown impatient and rushed on, or relied on my own judgement and thought I knew better.  Isn't this really something we are all prone to at times?

As Christians we believe God has our life in his hands.  He knows the plans he has for us.  A good plan!  A plan not to hurt us -  a plan offering hope and a future.   (Jeremiah 29:11)  This is awesome news!  God knows where we are, knows where we should be going, and how we should get there.  He sees us standing at the pedestrian crossing - and provides us with help in crossing.

And yet, just as the mother and daughter did this morning, we often ignore the help he is offering and run on ahead anyway.


There may be circumstances in our lives that we are wanting to get on with, to cross the road and get to the other side.  But God has placed a red man in front of us, to let us know it is not the right time.  It may not be safe for us to cross just yet.  There may be many obstacles in our way that may harm us and the work we are doing. 

Maybe we are stood at the crossing and tempted not to bother waiting for the little green man.  The traffic doesn't seem too bad; we think we can get across safely.  We want to rely on our own understanding.  We think it is worth taking the risk.  However, perhaps our 'red man' isn't so much about the traffic, but about us.  God could be at work in our lives, preparing and equipping us for the journey ahead.  If we get impatient and run on ahead, we may cross the road without meeting any cars, but find our journey difficult or ineffective when we get there.

If you are stood at a crossing, facing a red man, be encouraged,  the lights will eventually change.  They may not change as soon as you would like, and perhaps your own plans will alter because of this, but when they do change - it will be because the time is right.  God will make a way for us to continue our journey safely and effectively.  He will remove the obstacles, and prepare us for the journey - and the little green man will appear!  We can then cross safely - with the full assurance that God is in control - and we are walking in the plan he has for us.

For another interesting read on traffic lights - why not check out this blog?

The one with the Take That Tickets

Early Friday morning I awakened to the sound of my mobile phone vibrating against the bedside cabinet.  When I eventually realised that the Bzzzzzzzzzzing sound required an action, I turned over, and picked up the phone to my sister.  After a couple of grunts of greeting my sister asked a peculiar question.

'What are you doing at 9am and would you be able to sit on the phone for a while?'

What?  Why on earth would my sister be asking me to sit on her phone like a hen on an egg?!!!

Having only been awake a few minutes, my poor little brain just didn't have the capacity to understand what it was she was asking me to do.  As I began to wake up a little, and she continued to explain, I realised that my sister wasn't asking me to sit on the phone at all, but to sit by the phone and dial a number in for her.  You see, at 9am that morning Take That were releasing a limited amount of extra tickets for their forthcoming tour.  Evidently if you are a big fan of the group, this is very good news!  However, due to the high demand for these tickets, the phone lines were expected to be incredibly busy and very difficult to get through on.  Not such good news if you have somewhere else to be when the lines open!


As it happened I had a free hour between 9am and 10am so I agreed to walk round to her house and dial the ticket agency number for her.  She said she would write down the telephone number, the concert dates, her credit card information and anything else she thought I might need and leave it by the phone for me. 

So, at 9am exactly I picked up the phone, dialed the ticket agency number, had credit card details at the ready, and waiting for someone to answer my call.  Ha!  As if it would be that simple! 

'Thank you for calling Ticketmaster, we are sorry but all our operators are currently busy, please try again later'


 After nine or ten attempts to get through, I began to get a little bored.  So, I left the phone, popped to the kitchen and made myself a cup of tea.  Then I returned and tried again several times.

'The telephone network is busy, please hang up and try again'

A short while later I realised I had not had my breakfast, so again I left the phone and made my way to the kitchen to grab some cereal.  In between mouthfuls of weetabix and banana I half-heartedly tried to get through to the ticket sales, with no joy. 

This was taking longer than I expected.  Next break - the toilet! 

Then I tried the number again.

Then I had a quick look at Facebook on my mobile.

Then I tried again.

Then ..... well ... you get the idea.

You see, although I had said I would try to get these tickets for my sister, I just was not that interested myself.  I tried, but I didn't give it my all and I allowed myself to be distracted with other things.

My sister on the other hand had a totally different attitude.  She had arrived at work early that morning so that at 9am she could sit outside and dial the number from her mobile.  Continually!  As soon as the busy message appeared she hung up and redialed.  Time and time again without a break!  Her heart and her mind were totally set on getting these tickets and nothing was going to get in her way. 
She was so determined to see Take That - that at that time, nothing else really mattered.    She was prepared to give up time, energy, effort and money to make it happen.  All this to see Take That -   Four men that can sing well and put on a good show for an hour. 

Although I obviously don't share my sister's passion for Take That, and was not expecting to gain anything personally from my feeble attempt that morning, I did realise something important that I hope will have a lasting impact on my life ...

I know someone far, far greater than any member of Take That - someone who instead of singing to a crowd from a distant stage, invites me to have a personal relationship with them.  Someone who knows my name.  Someone who loves me unconditionally and someone who forgives completely. 

And yet, do I really put much effort in to spending time with Him?  Do I give it my all like my sister did to see Take That -or do I only put in minimal effort?

You know what? Far too often I approach God with a half-hearted attitude.  I allow distractions to get in the way; I get lazy.  I remain unfocused and get far too complacent.  I am not proud of this, but am honest enough to admit it, and determined enough to change it.

When asked what the greatest commandment was, Jesus answered:  

'The Lord your God is one; so love the Lord God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence and energy.' (Mark 12:30 - The Message)


Wow.  Love God with all your PASSION, PRAYER, INTELLIGENCE and ENERGY.  This is what I want to do.  This is what I need to do.  God loved me enough to send his Son to die for me, he gave his all.  He demonstrated effort and determination powerfully and perfectly!  What am I prepared to do in return?  What about you?


May I just draw one more quick point out of this experience?  As I explained previously, it proved very difficult to get through to the ticket sales.  The lines were continually busy and you were asked to try again later.  It was frustrating!  


This is different with God.  Listen to what God promises:

'Call to me and I will answer you. I'll tell you marvelous and wondrous things that you could never figure out on your own.' (Jeremiah 33:3)

He has promised to answer when we call. Yes!  God will answer :) There will never be a busy tone.  He will answer and tell us amazing things.  


So, I hope we can all learn from this experience.  I pray that we will realise how amazing it is to be invited to spend time in God's presence, and that we will work at loving him with all 'Passion, Prayer, Intelligence and Power' - not half-heartedly!  :)

To finish the story ... after an hour or so of trying my sister DID get hold of the tickets.  Not only did she have to put a lot of time and effort into obtaining them - she also had to pay a high price for them!  Over £200 for two tickets!!  Oh my!!