That was God?

The Otherwise Typical Day

Twenty-four years ago we lived in the little rural town of Travelers Rest on ten acres of land where mid-day you could practically hear a leaf drop it was so peaceful and quiet. My two-year old and I roamed the property daily  touching, smelling, playing in and eating from it! There was a beautiful huge pink crab-apple tree that rose above the old two-story dutch colonial house , engulfing my bedroom window when in bloom. Justin sat at his little picnic table underneath the shade of her branches counting and playing with fallen crab-apples time on end. I adored our private and blissful little world where calamity seemed to be off-limits. That is, until a moment of calamity reached our door one otherwise typical day.

A New Kind of Co-dependent

Justin had been playing downstairs with his little transforming dinosaur while I had been upstairs for a few. When I came down and walked into the kitchen it seemed all good; Justin lying on his tummy engrossed in the machinations of the dino. But the dino was not his only attachment. While the top half of my child was transfixed on trying to figure out how to transform a toy, I soon found myself trying to figure out how to get his  bottom half….his foot out of the ironing board. Somehow he had wheedled it into the small triangle of metal where the legs of the board meet the brace.
With Man it is Impossible….
It was impossible. I couldn’t do it. I would have had no problem with putting my child in the station wagon for a little trip to the fire station, but I was no Houdini and could not envision getting him AND an ironing board in it, much less getting the two of them into the fire station! Not even that big old jalopy I had inherited from my grandmother was going to accommodate that endeavor!
As if discovering it for the first time, Justin informed me that his foot was stuck. “Yes, honey it’s very stuck”, I confirmed. But God will help us like He always does. “God is going to help us, Mommy?” “Absolutely!” I assured him and we said a little prayer.

No Child Left Behind!

 With my husband far away, I  called the operator and told her my dilemma. She was on it, boy! I asked her specifically to tell the fire department NOT TO PUT ON THEIR SIREN because this was NOT AN EMERGENCY. But Darlene was not to be hindered from doing her utmost to make sure a two-year old child survived this ironing board entanglement crisis! ( I don’t think Darlene was kept busy enough)
Hence, on that sweet peacefully blanketed morning, all the routine of man and nature within a square mile of countryside was brought to a halt by the barrier busting sound of a siren! Here they came, tearing up dirt and gravel to get to the back of the house… three men–one in the back–of a fully equipped pick up truck…to the rescue. The siren was louder than the size of this emergency vehicle, but the determined looks on the faces of our heroes was all I needed to know this day would end well!

The Father The Son and The Holy Ghost

As they rushed into my home equipped and ready, looking for the child in distress, the “distressed child” looked them over then turned his trusting little eyes to me and asked, “Mommy, is this the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost?” The atmosphere let out its own sigh of relief, and we all burst out laughing at my precocious little boy, who seemed very comfortable with meeting God! One of the men stooped down onto one knee and told Justin that his guess was close because he was a preacher…. but not God Himself.

Ironing Board Surgery

Listening to the three of them decide the best way to get extract Justin’s foot was almost like listening to the best plan for surgery for this mom who was so afraid that they would hurt her baby’s foot! They considered all angles and all possible solutions. To cut the metal would bring them dangerously close to cutting his foot! This was getting a little tense again and I found myself praying. Well, somehow they managed to pull his foot loose. It looked impossible and Lord knows I couldn’t do it, but thankfully they did and without harm! I know that the good Lord had His hand in it. “Justin, what do you say to these men who helped you?” He looked at me and back and them, pausing for a moment and said, “Amen”. Ha ha ha! Yes, let it be so! I gratefully sent them to their emergency pick up truck with iced teas where they stood to recap their adventure before leaving us to our former peace. Justin had already forgotten the incident and was on to the next thing!

But with God ALL Things are Possible!

Sometimes we expect God to show up as God and when He doesn’t, we see ourselves as forgotten or unworthy. Maybe we know others who have had amazing encounters with Him and wonder when it will be our turn. I’ve wondered. But God in his infinite wisdom, I believe, loves to present Himself in His glory through the hearts…the persons…of men and women, even children. Oh, how I want to see the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit! But in truth, I already have! When my car stalled on a hill before a green light, and a woman whose car was behind me stopped her car at the bottom of the hill to give me room to get it going again. When neighbors who I had never met came over to clean my house because I had been in a car wreck and couldn’t do it. When a humble woman came to my door with her two children to pray for me because I WAS a wreck! When a stranger saw me in my car with a sleeping baby wondering how to return my videos to the store as I idled in front of it. She had assessed my dilemma and took them in for me. May seem like a small thing but it wasn’t to a stressed mom who was 30 miles from home on the due date of return! When I had miscalculated my bank balance and was brought to a mild horror at the grocery store check out and a manager swept down from his office and released me with free groceries! When others have reached out to me with smiles that reflected the love of God.

“….but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.” Proverbs 18:24

I am aware as I write this that there have been countless times in which my Best Friend has reached out to me but I can’t remember most of them! Why? Do we prefer to remember the times that we were misjudged or done a disservice? Or could it be that we just take God for granted? What might our lives have been like if we had not encountered God in so many seemingly trivial (or otherwise) challenges through the helping hands of the very people He indwells? Maybe someone you wouldn’t give the time of day has helped you pick up fallen groceries or helped you out of a mud puddle incident (don’t ask). Did you check out the smile? He or she was not leering; It was Love: Agape’.
“This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you”. John 15:12
I do believe that the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost came to help us with Justin’s ironing board struggle. When the preacher told my son that he was not God himself, well………he was wrong! Why would God care to the point of over caring? Justin wasn’t in danger. If he had never gotten out, I still would have fed him and kept him clean, ha (I’ll have to tell him that one)! God Himself paid us a visit on that day. I can tell you about Him. He cares beyond our understanding. He is jovial. He is compassionate and reassuring. The Trinity gets together and discusses us, not only that but They, Who need nothing from us….will accept a glass of tea! And He is justly angry when we are unjustly treated. I am honored.
Yes, I am highly honored when the head of the business office of the hospital system looks at me and softly and kindly says, “Honey, your debt is far greater than you will ever be able to pay off. That is why we are cancelling it.” I was looking at God. When my grandmother called the adolescent me her “Sugar Pie”; me ungratefully rolling my eyes in the midst of her tears of love….that was God.

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort.” 2 Corinthians 1:3

 There were many years when I was not comforted in my own home, but outside of it was God in the form of every kind of human suit you can imagine, when I was unsaved as well as saved, and inside of me is a God who has always offered Himself as my COMFORTER. That is a God encounter. We who believe and even they who do not…have found ourselves mercifully in the middle of many, I believe.  How wonderful! How amazing! And to think that I can be someone else’s God encounter as well!
The only thing I would add to this is how you might view yourself. As a believer, you are not exempt. You are the hope of Glory for all who are around you. You must take that into account. Don’t waste your life downplaying your worth. Others need God in you. God loves you. I love you. Now you love you and take Him to the world. It’s right outside your door!

Most Sincerely,
Your Uncultured Pearl