A Possible Missed Opportunity

A while back, I realized I spend a lot of time in my car. A basic week, for me, looks something like this:

To and from work - 25 minutes daily.
To and from lunch - 10 minutes daily.
To ballgames for my kids - 4 hours weekly
To and from church - 2 hours weekly

During this realization, I decided I wanted to make the most of this time. I didn’t want it to be wasted time. I wanted to be intentional with the time.

For me, sports talk or politics were interesting but didn’t benefit me spiritually, mentally, or emotionally. So, I decided to do away with it.

Here’s what I decided. Maybe you will find a helpful thought in this.

My drive to work would be for prayer.

I could get up earlier, but I don’t. I could break away from my family for 10 minutes in the evening to pray, but I don’t. I try, but I always fail. I do drive though. Everyday. So I decided I’d pray every morning as I drive.

My eyes are open, and I’m sitting, not kneeling, but for some reason, I don’t think God minds. Since doing this, I’ve had some great mornings of prayer and found consistency.

As an added reminder, I set a “reminder” on my iPhone that buzzes me every morning at 7:40 AM on my drive to work, saying, “Let’s Pray.”

Usually, I already am.

For other times I’m driving alone, my strategies are:

Think time - a couple of drives a week; I don’t let myself turn anything electronics on. It’s what I call “think time.” During that time, I consider my week. What am I neglecting? What do I need to plan? What’s my next few months look like? One of my constant complaints is I never have time to think. Life is so busy or distracted by media that I never think. Well, being alone in a car is a great time.
Book time - Reading and listening to books has become a must in my life. I wasn’t always a reader, but the benefits of reading are too valuable not to be, and I’ve come to enjoy it. Audiobooks have become a new interest. A lot of fiction is easy to listen to. I don’t listen to books I want to highlight or think about, but fun “reads” or biographies are great to listen to.
Podcast time - I love to learn, and there is no excuse not to in our modern world. You can learn about anything you want for free on YouTube or podcasts. Some of the most brilliant people in any field of study are interviewed on podcasts, and they can teach me for free.

When I’m with my family would be either for conversation or worship.

Only when I’m with my wife or kids do I turn on music. And only because they don’t like my podcasts. This is a fun time to worship together and sing loudly. When the music isn’t on, it’s a good time to have some quality conversation because there isn’t a temptation with the phone…or it shouldn’t be.

We all are busy in different ways, but an everyday drive might be an opportunity we are missing out on.

What’s your drive time schedule look like?

Is there an opportunity there to invest that time into something profitable?