Earlier today, my husband and I went downtown for lunch. As we were walking toward the restaurant, I suddenly heard loud, repetitive honking. I turned around and saw a pickup truck trying to parallel park. But the car behind it just wouldn’t stop honking—like the driver was trying to bully the person parking into giving up the spot.

I looked at my husband and said, “Can’t she just wait for a minute? Or change lanes? This poor driver is just trying to park.” But she kept honking, as if she didn’t understand or didn’t care. Eventually, the frustrated driver gave her the finger.

I don’t know why, but watching that little moment really bothered me. It reminded me of the time when my husband and I were on our way to the grocery store. I was driving the speed limit when someone behind me started honking nonstop. Instead of just changing lanes or passing me, they stayed behind and kept honking like I was doing something wrong. I was tempted to throw up my hand and give them the finger too. But I didn’t—because I knew it wouldn’t fix anything.

It’s not wrong to honk when you need to—sometimes you really do! But when it’s used just to push people around, it creates more stress than solutions.

Road rage is real. It’s scary how fast one impatient moment can turn into anger and how fast that anger can spread. Sometimes, one person’s bad mood tries to ruin everyone’s day. And honestly, anger is contagious. It’s so easy to pass it on.

The Bible says, “Blessed are the peacemakers…” (Matthew 5:9). I love that verse because it reminds me that we can choose peace, even in small moments like waiting behind someone who’s trying to park.

It costs nothing to wait a few seconds. It costs nothing to smile or let someone go ahead. The world is already hard enough—why not make it a tiny bit softer for someone else?

It’s okay to feel angry—God gave us that feeling for a reason. But when we let it control us, it steals our peace. It’s not good for our hearts or our health. Holding onto peace instead of anger is one of the best gifts we can give ourselves—and each other.

If there’s one thing I hope people remember about us, it’s not how perfect we were, but how we made them feel. Did we show grace when it was hard? Did we spread kindness when it wasn’t deserved? Did we bring a little peace into someone’s stressful day? I hope that’s what people hold onto—not just about me, but about all of us who try to make this world a little gentler.

This world needs more peacemakers. And sometimes, that just means not honking when you really want to.

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.” — Matthew 5:9