Pulling out of my driveway on a recent weekday morning, my attention was quickly drawn to an orange glow emanating from the dashboard.  My heart sank and blood pressure rose when I discovered what had captured my attention: the indicator light alerting me that our van was low on gas.

Since our town’s gas stations are located in the direction opposite that of our daily commute to and from school, I try to keep close tabs on the amount of gas in the tank.  In doing so, I am typically able to coordinate a trip to the gas station in conjunction with other errands when necessary, such as during my end-of-the-week excursion to the grocery store, in order to save the time and hassle of making a special trip just to refuel.  Needless to say, the discovery that we were so low on gas at the start of the week was a most unexpected and unnerving one.

Not wanting to end up stranded on the side of the road, my initial reaction was to head straight to the gas station for a fill-up.  However, that knee-jerk reaction would have rendered my children late for school and thrown off my work schedule, all of which would have caused additional challenges for the remainder of the day and possibly the next.

Fortunately, having been fortified by my morning cup of coffee, my rational mind eventually kicked into gear, and upon reviewing previous encounters with the indicator light, I determined I had enough of a gas reserve to get to and from school without incident.  So off to school we went.

Having made it safely to and from school, I seriously considered putting the trip to the gas station off until later in the week; however, I knew better than to ignore the warning light and adjusted my schedule to be able to squeeze in a special trip to the gas station later that day.  The trip wasn’t convenient, but it was necessary if I wanted to avoid further turmoil.

At one point during the incident I began to wonder how, despite my efforts to maintain a sufficient quantity of gas in the tank, did this happen?  I then realized I had not factored into the equation the trip we had taken over the weekend to our daughter’s soccer game at a venue about an hour away from home.  Since my husband had driven, I didn’t think to take notice of how much gas we’d burned up making the trip.  Thank goodness for that warning light.

Just as there are times when we burn the gas in our vehicles more quickly than expected, in life it’s all too easy to get so caught up in the day-to-day routine that we forget to factor in the extras that may burn up our personal energy reserves.  The forgotten school project that requires an extra trip to the store for supplies.  The last-minute dinner invitation that fills the space initially reserved for some much needed down time.  The unexpected trip to the bank to transfer funds to cover an unanticipated expense.

And, similar to a vehicle’s indicator light, our bodies have ways of warning us that we are close to running on empty.  Perhaps it’s by way of a particular head or muscle ache.  Or increased fatigue.  Or through the loss of patience that results in becoming short-tempered.

Whatever the indicator, it is important to heed the warning signs and take the time to do what is necessary to refuel, such as learning to say no a little more often, building more down time into the schedule, disconnecting from technology for a time, connecting with God.

Taking the time to refuel might not be convenient, but it is necessary if you don’t want to run out of gas.

What is your favorite way to refuel?

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