Growing in Knowing Grace
Recently My husband and I were rearranging the the various tea pots, figurines, and etc. sitting on the antique secretary shelves. I picked up a small glass bottle and ran my finger over the bumps that formed its design. I remembered well when I purchased it. My two oldest were just into their teen years. My younger daughter was about 9 years old and my son was about 7. We had just spent time at a church camp in western Nebraska. We were headed home to Lincoln, pulling the pop up trailer we had all slept in at the camp. Hopefully we would make it home in time to attend the wedding of a friend. When we were perhaps an hour on the road, a problem occurred with the trailer. We pulled into a town and found someone to fix the trailer.
This wasn't the kind of town that provided much to enthrall a family with four children. I think I was the one that saw it first. It looked like a store but the sign said something like rock museum. An elderly couple were about to leave as we pulled up. They were the owners. When they realized we were interested in their place they decided to stay and show us around. In addition to rocks of all kinds they sold antique bottles. Steve purchased a bottle for me partially as a thank you for their kindness as they allowed us to disrupt their lives. Soon our trailer was fixed and we were on our way. I marveled that such a pleasant time could come out of stressful circumstances.
We seemed to have made significant progress towards Lincoln when our van developed problems. Fortunately we made our way into the next town and found a place that could fix the car but it would not be done until the next day. Not only did we have unexpected expenses such as mechanic's fees, and the cost of a motel, we were also going to miss our friend's wedding. Steve was taking it all in stride as if our change of plans were normal life. I was amazed as I remembered similar road trips with my father. My dad increased in tension with every bad driver and wrong turn. Here was my husband not allowing a shake up in plans to shake him up. What a difference between these two men ; what a gift from God. Without a tense response we were able to use this unexpected gift as a special blessed time for our family.
Many years passed. We moved to Vermont and then later to Virginia. Our baby boy is now 27 instead of 7 and he is the father of 2 little boys. Our oldest son is 33. When we go on trips now it is usually just the two of us. God is still teaching us many things, often things I thought we had learned years ago. Sometimes it's an advanced course.
One week ago I had ladies at my house to look at the subject of God's sovereignty. I used for the basis of what we covered a chapter called He is King from War of Words by Paul Tripp. The emphasis was the effect of God's sovereignty on our speech. One of the points he made was that God sovereignly places us in various situations to mature us as believers and make us more like Christ. If we complain, we are turning our backs on what our loving God is doing for our good and His glory. Remembering the truth of these principles struck me with almost a physical force.
Steve had been looking forward to a reunion of his mother's family in northern Virginia. He took time from his busy schedule and we traveled to the gathering. We left the reunion after lunch because of other obligations. Steve wanted to avoid the horrendous traffic of interstate 95 and so he took a back country road. The weather was perfect for our drive down gently winding tree lined roads with the occasional barn and house. We were less than an hour from home when Steve suddenly commented on how hot the car was. He knew there was a church up ahead. When he got there he pulled off the road and opened the hood. Steam formed a large momentary cloud over the car.
I had purchased a roadside service the last time we had changed insurance policies. I was secretly glad that this would now justify the extra expense. When Steve called he was told it would take an hour before the truck would arrive. An hour, that wasn't bad. The day was beautiful. There were picnic tables under trees. I had my book I was using for my study as well as the material for V.B. S. to work on. An hour, no problem.
If this was the set of circumstances God had allowed for this afternoon, then we needed to trust God for how and where we would spend our time. My usually highly scheduled husband stayed on the front steps of the church without even his usual reading material. He spent his time in prayer, more time and in greater detail than usual. His to do list that he had at home remained unchecked. No grass cut, no weeds pulled, and no church chores. None of the usual Saturday duties but only God can say what important work was done that afternoon in that unexpected place.
By the way instead of one hour between first phone call and the arrival of the tow truck, it took three hours for the truck to appear. I have to confess I started to lose it about 10 -15 minutes before the truck arrived and I started to play a mindless game on my cell phone. I have been powerfully reminded of the need to do the hard work of remembering God's sovereignty as well as his other attributes on a regular basis.
Years ago in Nebraska when the van and trailer broke down God showed his grace abundantly through a series of small things as well as through the character of my husband. This time God again showed his grace abundantly through a series of small things and this time through a greater understanding of His character.
This wasn't the kind of town that provided much to enthrall a family with four children. I think I was the one that saw it first. It looked like a store but the sign said something like rock museum. An elderly couple were about to leave as we pulled up. They were the owners. When they realized we were interested in their place they decided to stay and show us around. In addition to rocks of all kinds they sold antique bottles. Steve purchased a bottle for me partially as a thank you for their kindness as they allowed us to disrupt their lives. Soon our trailer was fixed and we were on our way. I marveled that such a pleasant time could come out of stressful circumstances.
We seemed to have made significant progress towards Lincoln when our van developed problems. Fortunately we made our way into the next town and found a place that could fix the car but it would not be done until the next day. Not only did we have unexpected expenses such as mechanic's fees, and the cost of a motel, we were also going to miss our friend's wedding. Steve was taking it all in stride as if our change of plans were normal life. I was amazed as I remembered similar road trips with my father. My dad increased in tension with every bad driver and wrong turn. Here was my husband not allowing a shake up in plans to shake him up. What a difference between these two men ; what a gift from God. Without a tense response we were able to use this unexpected gift as a special blessed time for our family.
Many years passed. We moved to Vermont and then later to Virginia. Our baby boy is now 27 instead of 7 and he is the father of 2 little boys. Our oldest son is 33. When we go on trips now it is usually just the two of us. God is still teaching us many things, often things I thought we had learned years ago. Sometimes it's an advanced course.
One week ago I had ladies at my house to look at the subject of God's sovereignty. I used for the basis of what we covered a chapter called He is King from War of Words by Paul Tripp. The emphasis was the effect of God's sovereignty on our speech. One of the points he made was that God sovereignly places us in various situations to mature us as believers and make us more like Christ. If we complain, we are turning our backs on what our loving God is doing for our good and His glory. Remembering the truth of these principles struck me with almost a physical force.
Steve had been looking forward to a reunion of his mother's family in northern Virginia. He took time from his busy schedule and we traveled to the gathering. We left the reunion after lunch because of other obligations. Steve wanted to avoid the horrendous traffic of interstate 95 and so he took a back country road. The weather was perfect for our drive down gently winding tree lined roads with the occasional barn and house. We were less than an hour from home when Steve suddenly commented on how hot the car was. He knew there was a church up ahead. When he got there he pulled off the road and opened the hood. Steam formed a large momentary cloud over the car.
I had purchased a roadside service the last time we had changed insurance policies. I was secretly glad that this would now justify the extra expense. When Steve called he was told it would take an hour before the truck would arrive. An hour, that wasn't bad. The day was beautiful. There were picnic tables under trees. I had my book I was using for my study as well as the material for V.B. S. to work on. An hour, no problem.
If this was the set of circumstances God had allowed for this afternoon, then we needed to trust God for how and where we would spend our time. My usually highly scheduled husband stayed on the front steps of the church without even his usual reading material. He spent his time in prayer, more time and in greater detail than usual. His to do list that he had at home remained unchecked. No grass cut, no weeds pulled, and no church chores. None of the usual Saturday duties but only God can say what important work was done that afternoon in that unexpected place.
By the way instead of one hour between first phone call and the arrival of the tow truck, it took three hours for the truck to appear. I have to confess I started to lose it about 10 -15 minutes before the truck arrived and I started to play a mindless game on my cell phone. I have been powerfully reminded of the need to do the hard work of remembering God's sovereignty as well as his other attributes on a regular basis.
Years ago in Nebraska when the van and trailer broke down God showed his grace abundantly through a series of small things as well as through the character of my husband. This time God again showed his grace abundantly through a series of small things and this time through a greater understanding of His character.
Thanks for this, Joanie!
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