Safe in the Eye of the Storm

Yesterday, I posted about BEING the eye of the storm and today I'm taking it a notch up. Oftentimes, no matter the peace and calm we represent or the peace and calm we are in, still unexpected stuff happens which really reveals whether we're just talking the talk, or actually walking the walk! Eleanor Roosevelt quoted these words to a friend: “A woman (my add: or man) is like a tea bag; you never know how strong it is until it's in hot water.”

Yesterday, Friday, July 28, 2017, 11:45 am -- I was on a mission to return a swim suit to Dillard's that I didn't use on my Mexico trip. When I exited the busy, under-construction Dallas Tollway, a car was coming fast toward me on the side road so I had to slow to a stop to let her go on by. That's when the car behind me collided into the rear end of my car. We moved to a parking lot nearby and the young man who hit me was yelling all kinds of expletives and was pacing in a rage. My car had minor damage, but his was not drivable. He had just purchased the car 3 weeks earlier. I was calm and thankful the airbag in my car didn't deploy, and that neither of us were hurt.

I called Larry and he and Staci insisted on coming to me for moral support. Before long, the young man's best friend and former employee of the Law Department of Geico Car Insurance showed up and calmed the storm in his buddy and was equally reassuring to me that his buddy was a great guy (best friends since age 6), from a great family and still lives with his parents. My heart went out to the young man -- just 3 weeks in his beautiful new car and now having to deal with this inconvenience.

Here's what came about. Insurance information was exchanged, police showed up and wrote up the report and issued the young man a citation for going so fast he couldn't stop behind me. Staci, in her usual fashion, showed the young man the hail damage on his car and said "Be sure to wrap that hail damage into the repairs" -- "All things work together for good to those who love God" (Romans 8:28) -- if he didn't love God before, maybe this accident represents the turning point for him. Both Larry and Staci, and myself, represented compassion and care for the young man. No one was hurt. No doubt the young man will be a wiser and better driver hereafter. The friend of the driver kept saying "Thank you for being so thoughtful. I've seen so many upset drivers in situations like this and you are being so kind to him." I told him "Stuff happens and the way we handle 'stuff' is what shows up at times like this." When we departed, I hugged both young men and expressed my best wishes to both.

Who knew that when I posted yesterday about being "the EYE of the storm" in situations, that the same day I'd be putting to practice what I had preached. The fact is just a couple of months ago, I was in that young man's shoes, when I ran into the back of a car. Yes, accidents happen. That's why they're called "accidents". That same peace enveloped me then, too.

The calmness that lives in me isn't conjured up just for hard times. It's there 24/7. When we abide in THE ONE, Who is our peace at ALL TIMES, no matter what we encounter, we can rest assured our tea bags will ooze out God's love and God's peace in the midst of the storm. I wish you that PEACE today. I give you Jesus today -- because "He's the peace that passes all understanding." Philippians 4:7

Inconvenient Circumstances or Divine Appointments?

I've been taking you with me on my journeys lately -- even beyond my Holy Lands trip. Yesterday I alluded to my sharing God's love to a couple of people -- one being a young man who was the tow truck driver for my car. Here's the back-drop to that story. While driving from a friend's house, I realized I might have forgotten my purse there. I no sooner looked down to see if it had maybe fallen to the floorboard of my car, when I ran into the back of another car. I underestimated how close I was to the car when he stopped in front of me.

A simple distraction resulted in a boatload of inconvenience for me and the other driver -- getting repair estimates, getting rental cars, paying deductibles and other added expenses and lengthy dealings with the insurance company. I've done my best to remain positive through the process but it hasn't come without moments of angst. And I finally picked my car up after over six weeks in the repair shop, we found there were even more issues -- thus the need for a tow truck and now it's in the Buick dealership service department.....all this because I was momentarily distracted.

I think about many other close calls while driving and being distracted when I'd reach for my phone, talk to a passenger, change the temperature in the car, look in the mirror to check my make-up, eat while driving, etc. Seriously, this accident could have occurred many times before. I hope I've learned my lessons well and am completely focused from now on.

On the flip side of inconveniences, however, there are also the opportunities we have for realizing "God moments" that unless this incident had happened, there may not have been the encounter with the service people at the repair shop, or the tow truck driver or the insurance representative or even the other party in the accident. Opportunities to reflect patience, peace and faith in the midst of the storm; opportunities to be a light to someone else who is facing far greater circumstances than what we may be going through; opportunities to pray for that one who is hurting more than me.

Jesus came for interruptions AND distractions. He understood His mission. He was not trying to accomplish His own agenda but was about His Father's business. Our Savior was alert and on the lookout for just such strategic appointments -- what we could call human distractions turned divine.

When I think about Jesus' ministry, I am impressed by how many times He was interrupted. No, he didn't have a car or cell phone to distract Him, but He sure did get distracted by Zacchaeus in the Sycamore tree, by the woman with the issue of blood and the adulterous woman who was thrown at His feet, or the paralyzed man being let down through a roof to "interrupt" Him .

What could have been deemed "disruptions" found healing and forgiveness as a result of their encounter with Jesus. He did not resent them; He rescued them. There was such an obvious and genuine love emanating from His life that people flocked to Him. He was an attraction to distraction..

I wonder ... are people attracted to me when they encounter me? I remember nurses, doctors and medical staff being so drawn to us in the middle of our most challenging times -- simply because we didn't let the circumstances define us. We defined our circumstances as opportunities to be a light in the darkness.

We have the words of life to share with others. We have the love of Christ to give others. Perhaps, the interruptions and distractions are part of a Master plan that intersects our lives with someone who needs a healing touch -- even if it's right smack dab in one of our most inconvenient circumstances. If we don't show up for the divine appointment -- who will? Hmm -- just maybe my accident was really a divine appointment. That sure makes me feel better, anyway!

"The King will answer, 'Truly I say to you, as you have done it for one of the least of these brothers of Mine, you have done it for Me." Matthew 25:40