My wife, Daniele, and I were recently driving back from Doxology Bible Church in Fort Worth on Interstate 20 when our vehicle suddenly began to vibrate. One moment we were talking about something meaningful from the evening’s marriage ministry. The next moment the steering wheel shook hard enough to make me wonder if we had run over something. I quickly processed that I had drifted onto the rumble strip, so I adjusted back into the center of my lane.
Rumble strips have a thankless job. They sit in quiet humility, unnoticed until we need them. I once read an engineer’s description of them as a simple idea that protects people who may never know they needed protecting. Long-haul truck drivers often comment on their actual life-saving impact.
Life gives us its own rumble strips, and they often show up in small and ordinary ways. A conversation becomes clearer than expected. A memory surfaces at just the right moment. A friend checks in while you are still trying to find your footing. An unexpected interruption helps you realize you had started to drift without knowing it.
