FAITH FOR A SAW

FAITH FOR A SAW


It is so easy for children to believe. A veil seems to come over our minds in adulthood and it become hard for us to have faith.
When our grandson Jesse was about five years old he wanted his own saw. Actually he had wanted his own saw for several years but the children's toy saws we bought him did not satisfy his longing for a real saw. He was too little and saws are dangerous, we all told him repeatedly.
One day he and his mom decided to go for a walk, with his mom pushing Jesse's little sister in her stroller. Jesse commented to his mom that she must look down at the ground on their walk because his saw would be found on the ground when they walked. You can imagine how that computed with his mom. She doubtingly thought sure, of course we'll find a saw on the ground on our walk.
They went on their journey and ended up at a small park pretty far from their house. Jesse looked down at the ground all the way to the park and reminded his mom repeatedly to look for his saw on the ground. After arriving at the park, he busied himself playing, like little boys always do. His mom decided to continue pushing little sister in the stroller while walking around the perimeter of the park to get more exercise. Jesse's reminder to his mom to look for his saw became more insistent.
As his mom reported to me a couple of days later, she was gingerly walking along and happened to glance down on the ground. There in plain sight was a blade to a saw. Jesse had never seen the saw at that park before with his natural eyes, but somehow his spiritual eyes had seen the saw blade or he would not have been so insistent about looking. As adults, we must look for miracles with the same childlike belief that Jesse had, knowing that the desires of our hearts are important to God.

GOD THROUGH A CHILD'S EYES

When our grandson Jesse was about four years old he had to have some reconstructive surgery at a hospital in a neighboring state. It was serious outpatient surgery. The thoughts of his parents were just simply on getting through the surgery and getting home with an active four year old in the car, even though they assumed he would still be groggy from the anesthesia. The afternoon before the operation, Jesse's parents drove him in their car to the big city in the neighboring state since surgery was scheduled for early the next morning. Everything went as planned and the surgery was successful. Jesse was a cooperative patient. After spending a few hours in recovery, he and his parents left the specialty hospital with him swathed in bandages but bright and alert. They had a long trip home which would take over six hours. They went merrily on their long way home, anxious of course, with the four year old in the back seat attached to a catheter, so it was expedient that they get home as quickly as possible. About halfway home, the car sputtered and then stopped. Jesse's dad was able to pull the car over to the shoulder. The gas gage had been sporadically misbehaving and it showed a little gas in the tank, but they had erroneously assumed that there was enough gasoline in the tank to get them further down the road to a gas station. This was an unhappy predicament. They were in the middle of nowhere. What to do, what to do, what to do, was the dilemma. Since this was before cell phones were readily available, they had no means of communicating with anyone while on the highway. Suddenly two men appeared out of nowhere. One man was carrying a gas can filled with gasoline. The men asked the stranded travelers if help was needed. Jesse's parents couldn't believe their eyes and ears. Neither one of them asked the men why it was assumed that they needed gasoline nor did they ask where the men came from, they were just very grateful to be rescued so they could be on their way home. The men helped put the gasoline in the car, and it was enough to get them to the next gas station. Years later five of our grandchildren were talking about God, and one mentioned that no one had ever seen God so nobody knows what he looks like. Jesse remarked, "Oh, I know what He looks like because I've seen Him." His cousins teased him about the remark and asked, "Oh, yeah, when did you ever see God?" A confident answer came from Jesse. He said, "I saw God when Mom and Dad and I ran out of gas one time and God showed up with a gas can with gasoline for us." No one told him that it was God, but he instinctively knew it had to be God because it was a miracle. His mom and dad remarked that the two men were angels, but Jesse says it was God. I think a child always knows God when he sees Him, so I believe Jesse's assessment is more accurate. Praise God that angels or God, whichever, carry gas cans filled with gasoline for stranded motorists who are in dire need of a miracle. We're not going to strain at a gnat in trying to figure out who it was. We just accept God's help anytime we receive it. God and Jesse know who was there. The rest of us are just very, very grateful that a tense situation came to a happy ending with God getting thanks and praise from our family for continuing to be the ultimate Rescuer, no matter what He looks like.

FOGGY MIND

Valentines Day is special to everyone, a time of giving and a time of showing love. Valentine week of 2008 will always be memorable to me. My husband and I joined four close relatives on an early February cruise to the Mexican Caribbean. It started off badly but ended up with a miracle. At the appointed time for boarding ship in the Galveston shipyards we heard some bad news, that our ship was six hours late in getting into port because of fog; therefore, we would be four hours late boarding ship and then leaving port. Not one of our party seemed to care because we were all glad to get away from the North Texas and Southeastern Oklahoma cold, cold February weather. We were headed for sunshine and had already had our cold bones relieved by the warmer South Texas weather. Yes, there was heavy fog at the port, what seemed to us an unusual occurrence in Texas, but we trusted that we would be getting on our way in a few hours. After we boarded ship four hours late, we busied ourselves unpacking. Then we sampled some of the wonderful food offered 24 hours a day on all cruises. Shortly after we unpacked, the captain announced via the on ship communication system that the fog was still so thick that we were not allowed to leave port. His prediction was that we would be able to leave at about ten o'clock that night, six hours later than the originally anticipated time. No one seemed to care, we just enjoyed our relaxing atmosphere. Another later announcement alerted us to the fact that the Port Authority had decided that if the fog had not lifted by ten o'clock that night, that we would have to wait until the next morning to leave if the fog finally lifted then. The "IF" seemed to be very emphasized in the announcement. When ten o'clock that night came around, there was no sign of the huge ship making any gesture toward the high seas. It seemed secure in its berth at the Galveston port. It had been a long, busy day so I decided to go to bed around ten O'clock. Even though I was exhausted I couldn't go to sleep, which is unusual for me. I tossed and turned and tossed and turned until about three o'clock the next morning, all the time listening for the revving up of the motors of the ship. I continued to pray for everyone I knew, since that's how I spend sleepless nights at home. Suddenly, at around three o'clock the fog in my mind lifted and I began to think about some accounts in the Bible that tell about Jesus talking to the winds and the winds obeying Him. Then the thought also came to my mind that God makes His angels winds and His ministering spirits flames of fire. I had read that many times in the Bible and had researched the ministry of God's angels. Faith began to be solid and unshaken in me when the realization came to me that God's angels could blow the fog away and allow us to be on our way to the Caribbean. So that's what I asked, that the angels blow away the fog. Sleep came very easily after that. Early the next morning I was awakened by the familiar sounds of the motors of the ship. They were humming and purring and clinking and clanking as we began to move out to sea. Yes! We were on our way. Later in the morning as we moved along at great speed the captain's voice came on the intercom and informed us that we were very fortunate to get out of port. He announced that after the fog lifted and we were merrily on our way, the heavy fog descended again and socked in the port. His word for it was that we were "fortunate" because we were the only sailing vessel that was able to leave port that morning. An often quoted word among our family and friends is the word blessed, which in the original language means to be fortunate, necessary to be desired. Yes, we were fortunate or blessed, whichever you choose to say, because we experienced a miracle that day. The angels had very strong lungs to accomplish that feat, and we are grateful to them. I am so thankful to God for His lifting the fog from my mind and reminding me that He is still in the business of helping his children every day in ways that might seem small to other people. He's that kind of a Father, meeting every need. Lifting the fog was a loving gesture to everyone on board the ship, His special Valentine gift to us.