Warning: Hint, guidance, recommendation, love.

"Oil change needed"

I knew it was close, but I also knew I didn't have to change the oil immediately.  It would keep.  A few days later...

"front left tire pressure low"

 Yeeeeah, I did a once around to check if I had a real flat, but they looked good.  I chalked it up to cold temperature.  It would right itself once it warmed up.

"ice possible- drive with caution"

That one I was familiar with.  It had been snowing and anytime the temp drops below freezing that warning pops up.

It was when all three of these warnings ran across my dashboard in a news ticker fashion, that I began to think I should probably pay attention.  These small warnings were beginning to pile up. 

Each of these warnings are a little different.   An oil change has a little bit of wiggle room.  You know eventually you have to get to it or there will be bigger issues that follow. 

A tire pressure warning is kind of an important one.  Especially in my case when husband informed me that I did indeed have low tire pressure due to a nail being stuck in it.  Definitely a case requiring immediate repair.

The ice possible warning is one that pops up just to remind you that danger is possible.

I have teenagers.  I have taught the youth most of my adult life in my church assignments.  I can assure you that they feel like we are the news ticker scrolling across their daily lives in a steady stream of warnings. 

Oil change needed.  Choose your friends wisely, it might not be an issue now, but eventually you'll end up with bigger problems.  Choosing friends as teenagers is tough.  Sure, sometimes the friendships find you- and if you're lucky, the friendship is as if two pieces of a puzzle are popping together in perfect place.  Sometimes finding even one friend is tough.  It's these moments that can cause you to be impatient and just friendship someone right into your life that isn't quite the match you need.  I wish I could better help these teens understand that being alone isn't as terrible as it feels.  Learning to be alone is a neat journey and each person should really take the opportunity to understand what it means.  Mean girls.  I know, I just jumped there.  I couldn't find a soft segue to lead into the topic.  It applies to boys as well.  It isn't friendship when you are in a group that judges, makes fun of, or hurts others.  It just means you are part of a group who has a common purpose.  It isn't friendship- don't fool yourself.  Friendship results in a lot of things- joy, growth, support, understanding, love, kindness, bonding and a zillion other positive good things.  If you are bound together and you find yourself using the group to take advantage of another, stop it.  And reassess your group.  Is this a friendship?  Are these people helping me to become who I want to become?  Am I being a good friend?  Am I helping others become who they want to become?  Choose your friends wisely now, so you don't have bigger problems later. 

Low tire pressure.  What's causing it?  Why is my relationship with my Heavenly Father and Savior  at a low?  I can tell you with certainty that it isn't because He is lacking.  Take a walk around your vehicle life.  Can you see anything wrong that might be causing your low pressure?  Really look.  Remember, I took a walk around my car and didn't see anything major.  Tires looked fine, ignore the warning.  But someone I love and someone who was looking out for me took a closer look.  And he found a big fat nail in my tire.  What might your nail be?  Addiction to Netflix/social media/video games/food/pornography/anything else? A poor choice of language? Low self esteem? Judging others? What is your nail?  What can you work on?  We all have something, if you can't find something the first time, look again.  If you are still walking this earth, you've got something to work on, something to be warned about, something to change in order to be closer to your Savior and your Father in Heaven.

Ice possible, drive with caution.  I think of these words as a daily warning.  Be careful out there.  It might be slippery.  Watch for things that will cause you to slip and try to avoid them.  But guys, He gets it.  You're going to hit ice once in a while, sometimes that ice comes in the form of things that you can't control, sometimes you are going to make poor choices.  Driving with caution means paying attention, do the same thing in your lives.  Pay attention to what is a good thing in your life, and the things that are slippery. 

The warnings from your car are only there to protect you.  Your car isn't giving you warnings to make your drive more difficult.  I promise, if an adult is giving you a warning, before you roll your eyes, try and remind yourself that it's only because they love you and want to protect you from the crazy that's out there.