Warning-Check Engine

As many of you may know I am the father of 3 wonderful children.  Last night Anne, my oldest daughter, came home from her part time job and announced "there is a little red light that looks like a car engine that has lit up on 'Ducky's' dashboard." 

First let me explain that "Ducky" is the name of the car she drives.  Anne believes everything should have a name.  At our house we have "Charlie" the phone charger, "George" the weatherman on our thermometer plus many other named items. It means you might hear things like I need to use Charlie or George says it is 105.  Outsiders might think we have about 15 people living at our house or think we have a staff of help.  We don't.  We just have a very fun set of children.

Back to the warning light.

I was very impressed that my daughter was showing the responsibility of noticing the warning lights and recognizing that something needs to be done about it.  I know plenty of people that are experiencing major car repairs and have told me things like, "that light has been on for a while and I wasn't sure what it meant" or "they figured it was nothing major." 

Whoops, time to get out the wallet.

I have found that when the lights first come on  it usually isn't clear what exactly the problem is and usually it isn't a major issue.  At least at the moment that warning light came on.  But if the warning light (sign) is ignored for too long things get serious/dangerous and sometimes things go past the point where the problem can be cheaply/easily fixed.

It made me reflect on warning (lights) signs that are part of our regular lives.  Not everything in life has a dashboard.  Often the warning signs come from the actions, words or emotions of others.  Very seldom does somebody say to you directly things like "you are hurting my feelings and I am planning to no longer be your friend."

By the time your wife says your aren't spending enough time at home you have missed plenty of warning signs.

My hope for Anne is that not only does she notice the signs on the dashboard of her cars but that she watches for the warning lights on the dashboard of life.

(The next step is for her to take care of her own warning lights but we will take one step at a time.)