Commute No More

Last Friday was a momentous day in our UK journey - no more commuting from Newport to Bristol! For some perspective on the commute, log on to www.theaa.com, find the Directions page, and type NP44 3GB to BS30 8TS. And those postcodes aren't simply Newport proper to Bristol proper; no, they're from Llantarnam (north and west of Newport) to Oldland Common (north and east of Bristol). For all you Lower Mainlanders who might be reading this, that's essentially saying you're commuting from Surrey to North Van, when in reality it's from White Rock to Capilano.

The first leg of my daily commute was driving 10-15 minutes through Newport in our little borrowed green Fiat Cinquecento (pronounced Chinky-Chento in the UK - I know, it sounds racist) to our carpool pickup spot. Then another 45-60 minutes down the M4 to the school. Half the time we commute in a comfy Vauxhall Astra sedan, while the other half we ride a Peugeot I-don't-know-what that lacks backseat headrests. I've spent many hours commuting nodding off in the head-down position (for all you CrossWay people, the same way I used to nod off during Tony's Sunday morning messages when I was doing the Sun/Province paper route in the wee hours of the morning).

Knowing I would be commuting this way for a good 2 1/2 months, I resolved to challenge myself two ways: 1) to redeem the commute somehow by meditating on "whatever is true...honorable...just...pure...lovely...commendable" (Philippians 4:8); and 2) to take the opportunity to "incarnate Christ" (Paul David Tripp's words, not mine) to the teaching colleagues I was commuting with.

Redeeming the commute (C.J. Mahaney's phrase) was far more difficult in the first month, when I was faced with the over-the-top comedic stylings of Chris Moiles & Co. on BBC Radio 1. He is a very funny man but much of his humour is very crude and cutting. On most mornings the radio was turned up full blast, which negated any communication. Thankfully my birthday saw a card arrive from my parents which contained enough birthday ££ to invest in the low-end Apple iPod. I was able to download many messages from C.J., Joshua Harris, Mark Dever, Randy Alcorn and John Piper - and did it ever make a difference! I was able to revel in the truth of God's Word and tune out Chris Moiles.

The second prong of my personal challenge was to evangelize where and when possible. It was much more difficult from the backseat but I was able to comment here and there. At one point one of the girls asked what I was listening to and was able to share that I had biblical 'lectures' saved on my iPod (I didn't think she knew what a sermon was). Also, on the day that the other girl drove home by herself I was able to share briefly with her my beliefs on heaven. That door had been opened because of a fatal accident on the M4 that morning. So while there haven't been any dramatic drop-to-the-knees conversion moments, there have been opportunties to season the commute with the truth, and it will not return empty (Isaiah 55:11).

While I am thankful that God allowed me to undertake these challenges, I am overwhelmingly thankful that the end of that commute means 3-4 more hours with Cheri & Kenny everyday. I should add that after school I was waiting at least another hour to leave the school. During those extra hours I had to check my heart countless times, for while my desire to go home to my family was so strong, it was impure in that I was resenting my carpool partners for taking so long to leave the school. Confession over!

This next week brings four days of a primary school placement just five minutes from where we are living, followed by a weekend move to Bristol. It's been a long time in coming, but God has given us the grace and patience to see it through. I will attempt a couple of posts before we move, but as ever, please hold lightly to that pledge...