My daughter had borrowed my car while hers was having some brake work done. While transferring car seats from her vehicle into mine, my two year old granddaughter caught sight of my little teddy bear in the back seat. Demanding to play with it, my daughter said, “No, that’s Grandma’s “swear bear”. It has to stay in the car!”

I was mortified when she told me about their conversation when she dropped off my car later in the week. “It’s not a swear bear!” I squeaked with embarrassment. “It’s my ‘What Would Jesus Do?’ Bear!”

Her husband raised an eyebrow, his expression begging to know the story behind my little teddy bear. My daughter giggled with mirth, and said, “This is a good one!”

When my first child was a toddler, her favourite movie was “Alice in Wonderland”. It was a VHS tape of an animated, musical adaptation of the story. I wasn’t even sure she actually watched it, because she would happily play with her other toys while the movie played in the background, but she demanded to have it on regardless.

One day as we were driving around town doing a variety of errands, she was strapped into her car seat almost asleep. I was merging onto a major thoroughfare, when a woman driving a small compact car zigzagged around me completely cutting me off in the process. She looked entirely too smug with her aggressive driving style so I loudly voiced my honest opinion of her as she zoomed by, “Stupid woman!”

From the back of the car a little voice squeaked out with gleeful delight, “Off with her head!”

I realized that day that I couldn’t vocalize my road rage with her in the car…

…and we obviously watched way too much T.V.

It wasn’t long after that incident, I went to a Christian book store and I bought a book that came with a promotional little teddy bear wearing a sweater with the letters WWJD knitted on the front. Charles Monroe Sheldon, published the book, “In His Steps” in 1896, and introduced the principle, “What Would Jesus Do?” which spawned the “WWJD” movement. To this day those initials are still found on Christian clothing, and jewelry. In my first book, “Shoot the Wounded”, I purposely had Jake, one of the main characters, wear a “WWJD” ring.

On the way home from the book store, as an afterthought, I tossed the teddy bear on the dashboard of my car. Instead of giving it to my daughter to play with at home, I decided to keep it in the car. It became a dashboard ornament with a purpose. It was a constant visual reminder that every time I was driving anywhere, someone was always watching me. Jesus was with me when I drove alone or with my children. He was watching over me, and monitoring my actions at all times. If I got into situations that triggered reactive behaviours (road rage 😡), I looked at the teddy and remembered to not say or do anything that might hinder my Christian witness in front of my children or others.

As the children got older, there may have been a few times they had to remind me to “look at the bear” when I was driving. I don’t swear, but I do on occasion voice my displeasure.

Four way stops are the bane of my existence.

“My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and and slow to become angry.” James 1:19