Several weeks back I found myself on State Street in Ephrata, Pennsylvania. I grew up in that town and now there I was with my own kids for our trip to visit Santa Claus. After photos with the big guy, we returned to our vehicle for the ride home.

Then I looked across the way and saw something I had never paid much attention to…an old caboose! ¹ Curious, I decided to take the kids over to check it out. Luckily for us an older gentlemen was inside working on it and allowed us to take a little tour.

Inside, historical pieces were displayed about the caboose. It also had an entire layout of a bathroom and bunkbeds, just as it had been back in the day when the caboose was hard at work for the Pennsylvania Railroad.

When we hurry along through life…

I must have walked, ran, biked and driven past this caboose thousands of times. But I never took the time to slow down and experience it. Too busy I suppose. This whole time it was sitting right there with its history, uniqueness and peaceful vibe. And I had no idea.

How often do we do this in life as well? We get so busy trying to check all the boxes…running after the next great thing…that we miss what’s right in front of us. We miss all the good that God is doing in that exact spot, at that exact moment, on that exact day.

We get blinded by the hustle and forget God is always at work and may have something special sitting right in front of us that we pass on by. It may not always be glamorous, just like the old caboose that had sat vacant for many years. But there was beauty and peace inside.

…it’s easy to forget God is with us.

Day-to-day God is working…even in the not so glamorous areas of your life, even in the chaos. You just need to slow down and look. He may be working through other people, through you, or perhaps on you. Don’t miss what He has for you while you’re running through this life.

I am a big advocate of having a great work ethic, but don’t let that hustle blind you to the opportunities God has for you today. Slow down. Be still. And seek Him.

Love God, love people, stay positive and be great!

 

 

Ross

 

 

 

 

Ross Buckwalter grew up in Ephrata, PA, and knew the heavy burdens of life at an early age. After a professional baseball career, more burdens brought him to a breaking point in 2019, but God intervened and saved him. Today Ross spreads hope, joy and positivity…sharing how he can see God in the good, the bad, and the darkest of times. Ross lives in Lancaster, PA, has a son, as well as a daughter with special needs. Check him out on facebook. 

 

 

 

Footnotes: (1) The caboose is a car on a freight train, used chiefly as the crew’s quarters and usually attached to the rear of the train. The one shown in the Banner shot is PRR 478201 and has a steel, streamlined cupola (the structure on the roof of the caboose). It is the same caboose Ross saw.

Pictures: Banner: Caboose 478201 of the Pennsylvania Railroad, photo by Ross Buckwalter (2023). (1) Ephrata Train Station and Visitors Center, photo by Theresa (7-20-2017), Foursquare.com. (2) Slow Down, from “Christian, You Need to Slow Down”, a blog by Doug Eaton (8-7-2019), FightofFaithblog.com. (3) Be Still and Know That I Am God, from the Bible Study of the same name, by Helen D. Kato