Just Push Back Those Curtains

You have met my dear 97-year-old mother-in-law via my blog before. She gave me a “lift” yesterday when I made my check-in call to her. If I don’t call her every couple of days, she calls me. She lives at my brother and sis-in-law’s home in Tulsa. They are among those I’m missing during this "at home" time, along with my Austin crew.

Mom amazes me. When I called, she had just returned to her bedroom, after cleaning up the kitchen from her breakfast and walking (using her walker) up and down the hall five times (her daily “staying-alive” routines). She added: “Now, I’m working on some purchase orders Karen gave me to check for her (for their business). Some of it was new for me, but I double-checked it and they are all right!” I said, “Mom, you are amazing. You don’t quit!” She retorted: “When the dark curtains start to close, I just push them back open. Too many people just sit and do nothing! We’ve got to be determined to keep moving forward! I put me behind me and try to help the guy in front of me!! Forward march! Onward Christian Soldiers (singing that line)!!”

She went on: “Maddie (her 18-year-old great-granddaughter) was here yesterday. She asked me about my family. I told her the name and placement of each one of the twelve: First there was Mary, then Molly, Ann, Dan, (me, Lydia), Penny, Dave, Alma, Amy, Richard, Hilda and Buddy.”

Typically, our calls are just a "check-in" call, but she was on a roll yesterday. Mom knows tough times. She finds great joy in talking about the past because she knows WHO brought them through those times. Floods of the 1950s in Winnipeg (Canada) filled their home. They had to move in with her parents when my husband was 4-years-old. It took a lot to get their home restored. Then there was the tornado in the late 80s (aftermath is pictured here with Dad, Mom and my husband). Mom and Dad were in a bathroom shower stall in the middle of the building, crying out to God for mercy. They came out unscathed and so did the big Family Bible you see here under Mom's arm.

Here we are in almost unbelievable times of 2020. If we listen or read news reports and take them just as they are, it may seem as if the best escape is for God to open up a window above us in the sky and snatch us away to a better place beyond the clouds. But, maybe we should take on Mom’s way of thinking. She has a habit of saying "And that's the way it goes". That's kind of the way she looks at life. When she could be down because she’s a widow, her only son died, has physical issues, must live with her kids and has to use a walker or wheel chair -- she just patiently and calmly says, "And that's the way it goes."

Perhaps that’s the way we should view life – “and that’s the way it goes”. It has a care-less tone to it, doesn't it? Not that we don’t care – but that we “Cast our cares on He Who takes over and handles the cares for us.” (Psalm 55:22) All of this is not too much for God to handle. Whatever the circumstances of our lives – no matter who we are and what our responsibilities are – we will never stump God, or leave Him wondering what in the world to do next. I'm quite certain that none of the stuff is enough to make God throw his hands up in surrender.

Mom is a “Bible-thumper”. It’s her daily go-to for answers. "That's the way it goes" -- trusting, leaning on and depending on He Who has us all in His mighty hands. Let’s leave the figuring out to God. His way (and Mom's way) is to live a calm, peaceful, and assured life. I think Mom's 97-years prove it works!

A Window of Opportunity

I wasn’t planning on returning home to Frisco until today, but I saw the "warnings" about the torrential rain that was soon to hit Austin around noon yesterday and the rains expected to hit Frisco that would go on into today. Knowing it was God's wisdom in that “window of opportunity”, I quickly packed up my things and made my way home before the rains started. I knew what would be best for a safe drive home rather than tackling the rain. I made it home safe and sound with only a minor rain shower once I made it to Dallas.

I couldn’t help but relate my “window of opportunity” in some way to those in the Carolinas who were warned and given an opportunity to get to safety before Hurricane Florence hit land. Thankfully Florence was downgraded to a tropical storm, but still, lives were lost, catastrophic flash flooding continues, homes are flooded, millions of people are without power, and hundreds of rescues were required for those who didn’t take advantage of the “window of opportunity” when they could.

It reminds me of the story of the man who had many emergency warnings about the terrible storm and floods headed for his town. People were ordered to evacuate the town, but, one man heard the warning and decided to stay, saying to himself, “I will trust God and if I am in danger, then God will send a divine miracle to save me.” The neighbors came and pleaded with him to get in their car and escape with them. But the man declined. “I have faith that God will save me.” As the man stood on his porch watching the water rise up the steps, a man in a canoe paddled by and called to him, “Hurry, get in my canoe; the waters are rising quickly!” But the man again said, “No thanks, God will save me.” The floodwaters rose higher pouring water into his living room and the man had to retreat to the second floor. A police motorboat came by and saw him at the window. “We will come up and rescue you!” they shouted. But the man refused, waving them off saying, “Use your time to save someone else! I have faith that God will save me!” The flood waters rose higher and higher and the man had to climb up to his rooftop. A helicopter spotted him and dropped a rope ladder. A rescue officer came down the ladder and pleaded with the man, "Grab my hand and I will pull you up!" But the man STILL refused, folding his arms tightly to his body. “No thank you! God will save me!”

Shortly after, the house broke up and the floodwaters swept the man away and he drowned. When in Heaven, the man stood before God and asked, “I put all of my faith in You. Why didn’t You come and save me?” And God said, “Son, I sent you a warning, a car, a canoe, a motorboat, and a helicopter. What more did you expect?”

My heart goes out to those precious people and families who are suffering from loss of loved ones', the loss of their home and possessions and who have no idea what they will come home to – if anything at all. I’m certainly not taking the devastation caused by Hurricane Florence lightly for those this morning who feel hopeless.

The message that came to me yesterday was seeking God for wisdom in times of uncertainty. “But those who listen to Me will be secure and will live at ease, without dread of disaster.” (Proverbs 1:33). His voice comes to us in many various ways: a weather report, a friend’s advice, a scripture, a sign on a billboard, and even His still small voice within us. We can take the “I’m just going to wait for God to provide for me. Or, I’m going to just simply pray about it and if it’s to be, it will be.” Or we can be like Noah, in spite of the hair-brained idea it must have been to him and those onlookers to building an ark when it had never rained before – right in the middle of the dry land, he heard God’s voice, and warning and obeyed and built that ark.

Don’t you know that it breaks God’s heart to allow the storms to come our way? As parents, doesn’t it break our hearts when our children encounter storms and though we don't ever like to see our children suffer, sometimes having them cuddle up to us for reassurance and peace, just feels good. Should we think that our Father is care-less about His kids? I believe He could be strategic in allowing some things....that He knows will draw us closer to Him. “Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you.” James 4:8

I continue to pray for all those in harm's way today. I pray for our country – on so many levels and above all, I pray that not only does God bless America, but more importantly that America blesses God and turns to Him for “peace in the midst of the storms”.