Category Archives: Learning from our past

Against All Odds

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When I was a single career girl in 1968, I owned a red hard-top convertible Corvette and lived in an apartment with 3 friends on the near-north side of Chicago. Although it wasn’t a dangerous neighborhood, when walking home from distant parking spots we kept our eyes open.

One Sunday afternoon I arrived home briefly and just needed to run inside to pick up a few things before driving off again. Incredibly, there was an empty parking space right in front of our building. With the car so close, I figured I could safely leave the top down during my quick in-and-out.

But when I came back 10 minutes later, my Corvette was gone. It was difficult to believe someone had stolen it in so short a time in broad daylight, but they had. I filed a police report, but the officer said, “A Corvette? They’re chopped up within minutes. You’ll never see it again.”

Lo and behold, 4 days later, the police found it! The convertible top was still down, and it was parked in front of a gun factory with a “Now Hiring” sign out front. The police wouldn’t have noticed it except for the screwdriver sticking out of its ignition hole. The officers hid, waited for the driver, and nabbed him when he tried to get in the car.

I got my Corvette back with only minor damage and classified it as direct intervention from God. Because of his arrangement of circumstances, the impossible had happened.

Last month, the impossible happened again. This time it was Louisa’s 16 year old Honda Accord. She parked it outside her Chicago apartment after returning from work, and when she went back to it, it was gone. Wondering if she’d forgotten exactly where she’d parked, she asked friends to drive her up and down the streets, just to be sure. But it was nowhere.

She filed a police report, but the officer said, “They steal them for parts. We’ll probably find the empty shell abandoned under the el tracks in a day or two.”

Lo and behold, a week later Louisa got a call saying her car had been found, parked illegally in front of a fire plug. Police had it towed to an impound and told her where to pick it up.

“Is it damaged?” she said.

“We didn’t check.”

Incredibly, it was in perfect condition, even the ignition. Although the car’s contents were disheveled, nothing was missing except a five dollar bill. When Louisa called me with the good news she said, “It was God for sure.”

I agree.

Sometimes we feel distant from the Lord, as if he’s not hearing our prayers and has no concern for our needs. At other times we can’t get over his startling activity on our behalf. The trick is to think back to those times of his dramatic involvement during the moments when he seems distant.

True then?

True now.

“Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings…” (Hebrews 10:22)

Flight of Fantasy

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Linnea and her family have lived in Florida for 8 years, 1200 long miles away from me. But it’s a lovely place to visit during a Midwestern winter, and because they live in the central part of the state, I got to fly into Orlando, an airport with many flight choices and good prices. My grandbaby is a week overdue today, and I’m thrilled to be part of the welcoming committee.

Orlando International is popular with families because of Disney World, destination of endless delights. And quite a few plane passengers begin their vacations the minute they board. Princess tiaras, Mickey Mouse ears, and “Cars” t-shirts abound, adding a playful atmosphere to basic air travel. Occasionally flight attendants will get in the spirit of things too, coaxing passengers to sing “M-I-C-K-E-Y…” and telling the kids how excited Cinderella is that they’ll be visiting her castle.

I remember my first trip to Disneyland in Anaheim, California (long before Disney World existed). It was the late 1950’s, and the much smaller theme park was big stuff to us. Entrance was under $2 (now $75), and our California cousins showed us a wonderful time.

Disneyland’s Main Street was lined with tantalizing shops that promised happiness with every purchase, and we begged our parents for Snow White toothbrushes and Tinkerbelle fairy dust. Leaving the park, our enthusiasm ran high for all things Disney. In the weeks that followed our California trip, however, other infatuations pushed Mickey and company to the back of our minds.

And that’s the thing. Out of sight often becomes out of mind, and not just for grade school kids.

We adults have the same problem. We might decide to read through the Bible in a year, then hit Leviticus and quit. Or maybe we attend a spiritual retreat and come away with 10 pounds of literature and a resolve to go deep with the Lord but then never empty our shopping bag. Or we become convicted during a sermon and promise to rout sin out of our lives, but after a few failures, we stop trying. Or we attempt to memorize Scripture but lose our zeal when the verses won’t stick.

Is it possible to maintain enthusiasm for something when we’d rather put it on the back burner? I think of Jesus, living a victorious life against tremendous odds and wonder how he accomplished it. Scripture gives the answer: he refused to stray very far from his Father. They partnered continually through prayer, sometimes all night long, and that collaboration was the key to his success.

Amazingly, we have the same option, not to be sinless, but to partner with the Father. Teaming with God is the key to successfully tussling with temptation, especially the temptation to quit trying. And if we turn away from him, the result is much like leaving Disneyland. Out of sight is out of mind.

The Father is out of sight, but may our partnership with him never be out of mind.

“Some people hear God’s Word “with enthusiasm, but the enthusiasm doesn’t go very deep. It’s only another fad, and the moment there’s trouble, it’s gone.” (Luke 8:11,13 The Message)

By my own self!

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When our firstborn was a 20 month old toddler, his favorite sentence was, “By my own self!” That’s not really a sentence, since there’s no subject or verb, but we all knew the subject was “Nelson” and the verb was “do!” He desperately wanted to be independent.

Two weeks ago when I was in England visiting my 3 young grandchildren, the twins evidenced that same indomitable spirit at 22 months saying, “Own! Own! Own!”

I looked at their mommy and said, “What does that mean?”

“They want to do it ‘on their own’,” she said.

If I began peeling an orange for Evelyn, she’d reach for it and shout, “Own! Own!” Or with Thomas, I’d start to set up a train track and he’d say the same. “Own!”

Every child has their uniique way of communicating the same message: “Me have it!” or “I wanna do it!” or just plain “Nooo!”

As soon as children have minimal vocabulary, what they most want to say with it is, “I’m independent!” They’re letting us know they don’t want or need any help.

We laugh at that since most of the things they’re trying to do are beyond their toddler capabilities. But don’t we adults often communicate the very same message to God? We know he wants us to humble ourselves and come to him for help, but first choice is always to do it “by my own self.” When we finally admit we need him, our request still comes out wrong: “Lord, help me to do such and such.”

Instead it ought to be, “Do whatever you want, Lord, and I’ll follow.”

We live in a world that idolizes self-rule, which is one reason why following Jesus is so unpopular.  The backbone of Christianity is complete dependency on God, and the Bible’s steady drumbeat is, “Lose yourself in Christ’s sufficiency, and your life will have purpose.”

Making Christianity even less appealing to the masses, Scripture tells us our present life is only a training ground for life after death. We’re supposed to accept the old adage, “You can’t take it with you,” focusing away from earthly accumulation and toward heavenly treasure.

So how do we squelch the inner voice that begins talking to us at 20 months and never quits? How do we escape the natural human drive toward independence?

The only possible way is to admit that everything we do, have, or are belongs to God. That includes our homes and everything in them, our degrees, careers, accolades, investments, cars, our bodies and facial appearance, our health, our freedoms, even our children and grandchildren. All are God’s.

And once we acknowledge that, the rest comes easy, because if everything belongs to him, it’s only natural to follow his instructions on what to do with it all. As for doing anything “on our own” after that?

Not a chance.

“Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life.” (John 12:25)