Each weekday morning I had a routine when I was a school bus driver. Me and Richard would meet at the bus lot at 5am and start the buses. Why? One day God spoke to my heart and said do at least one kind act for others every day. So, I chose this one. When the drivers arrived on the cold winter mornings, they could leave their warm cars and trucks, walk about 50 yards and step onto a nice warm bus. They loved knowing that each morning someone was preparing the way for them to have a nice beginning to their day. Richard still does this.
My next routine of the morning was to sit quietly in my truck and pray out loud as I talked to God. He knew each weekday morning about when Jim would be spending some personal time with him. I made sure when I talked with Jesus, I envisioned Him sitting in the passenger seat, often I would put my hand over there too. I knew He was with me because His Word tells me. Deuteronomy 31:6 – “Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you; he will not leave you or forsake you.” This is that promise of God’s constant companionship I am telling you about.
Finally, I would open my bible and read the next chapter of whatever book I was in on that day. I deeply failed on weekends. My bible left untouched in my backseat of my truck. Sure, I was in church and Sunday School and I heard the Word of God from my preacher, but I had no routine of me and Jesus quietly sitting together. Another mistake I often made and maybe you struggle with this too, was I forgot to allow time for Jesus to speak to me through His holy Spirit that lives inside me. Ouch…. I never intended to hurt Jesus but I am sure when I completed my prayer time talking to Him and then went to my phone to pull up some worship music, He more than likely thought to Himself, wow, I did not even get the opportunity to respond and talk to Jim.
Two weeks ago, today I suddenly quit my job as a school bus driver after my afternoon bus route. I loved my job; my students and the impact God was using me to make on children’s lives for the past 15 years of driving the school bus. I miss it dearly and I hurt deeply. So much so my health has declined over the past two weeks as I lost my joy. The stress this action has caused me and my marriage has been very hard to deal with. I have been to the doctor several times with digestive issues directly caused by the stress of being unemployed for the first time in my life. I worked a lot before I graduated high school. After I graduated high school, I worked for Radio Shack for three years then AT&T for 32 years and Arkansas School Districts for 15 years. I am 68 and wanted to drive my kids safely to and from school till I was 75 and then fully retire. ( of course that was my plan ) BUT GOD, has the perfect plan for my life and that is the plan I want to follow. Sometimes I wish He would just pause and tell me the plan He wants me to follow but that is not how it works. We all must wait on God to reveal His plan for our life in His perfect timing.
It is the waiting that is the most difficult thing for this imperfect and impatience man. God is teaching me patience and perseverance as He molds me into the man He intended me to be when He created me in my mom’s womb. Not who Jim wants to be, but who God has always wanted me to be, like Him. Please pray for my health as I wait upon the Lord to direct my steps. I am hurting and my students are hurting along with their parents.
Jim Everett
Proverbs 16:9 (ESV) “The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.”
Isaiah 30:21 (ESV) “And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, ‘This is the way, walk in it,’ when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left.”
