Dashboard Jesus

So happy for Eunkyung, who is now working in the Cardiothoracic Intensive Care Unit (CTICU) in UPMC Altoona!  She is learning a lot and excited to work for a great unit in a great hospital.  I know that God will continue to use her to help people in her field.  She is a great example that determination and hard work will get you through anything.  Regardless of the hurdles in life, she has done it.  A mother of two children, immigrant to the USA, English as a second language, and many more hurdles, but she did it!
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Not too long ago she received her first paycheck, and it was exciting.  I told her to not worry too much about the loans on this paycheck, but celebrate it, she deserves it!  She gave each one of us something special.  That beanbag in the last blog I wrote about, came out of her paycheck, and she gave me a dashboard Jesus!

You may be wondering, what the heck is a dashboard Jesus?  It is exactly the way it sounds.  It is a little Jesus figurine that sticks to a dashboard of a vehicle, and Jesus just bops around as the car moves.  I absolutely love it!  I have a Jesus mobile! 

Now I hope, as you guys are reading this, aren’t thinking now that I am some religious whack job, or that I am poking fun at Christianity.   This dashboard Jesus gives me a ton of joy!  It is fun, cheerful, and reminds me every time I get into the car, I really can’t get too frustrated driving around town.  I must admit, I can get stressed driving, especially when someone is driving rude, or I think that the persons in other cars aren’t driving the way they are supposed to!  But now I have Jesus with me in the car, and I feel happy.  I can’t help but smile.  And it reminds me that Eunkyung gave this to me, with her own independent financial self!  All very cool to think about!

Having Jesus on my dashboard of the car also reminds me that being a pastor isn’t always about seriousness.  It isn’t always about dealing with stress of preparing a worship and a sermon.  Nor is it about meetings and planning or making sure that the people I visit will get the best and correct counselling.  Being a pastor is also about joy and laughter.  I should never forget that.  God called me to be a pastor, not because of my gifts He has given me, but because God knows that it would give me great joy.  Thank you to Jesus who is riding with me all over Central Pennsylvania!

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