I
love how God teaches lessons. For me they usually come when I least
expect them and oft times I find them rather comical. With each
lesson I am determined to learn what I am meant to from that
experience and take that growth into the next experience and build on
it. I believe that our Heavenly Father does things for us to learn
from just about every day. But we often times don't pay attention or
put a pin in our timeline and come back to that situation where God
was faithful and got us out of a tight spot or showered us with the
visible love we needed at that moment. Also I'm chief among sinners
when it comes to explaining away an event that happened as "well
that person would have been coming by anyway," or "it might
not have actually been my prayers that God answered..." But in
my old age I'm learning that God is ever present in my life because I
have invited Him to do so and He really does have my best interest at
heart and He is always faithful. I could go on for hours about this
subject because I at the ripe old age of 30 I have seen enough and
experienced enough to know that God is always faithful. But allow me
to share three instances where God did what He does in my life and
these events I have put a pin in and come back to them when I'm
having a bad day and don't feel like He's there.
Starbucks
Those
of you who know me know that Starbucks is my place of choice to
purchase coffee. I have passed my love of the coffee chain on to
several members of my family including my 6 year old nephew and my 4
year old niece. They are not allowed to consume coffee but still
enjoy the atmostphere, or perhaps its the treat they get to pick out
and their totally amazing aunt purchases for them. Whatever the
reason I'm happy to have tiny Starbucks Buddies.
One
day in the recent past I was taking both my niece and nephew to their
grandma's house and promised them that if they hurried to get ready
they would be rewarded with a stop at Starbucks on the way to
Grandma's House. As we drove through town and headed towards the
highway my nephew informed me that this was not the way to Starbucks.
It's a pain that he has such a good sense of direction. I explained
to him that we were not going to the Starbucks he was familiar with
and that I knew where a different one was and we would indeed make a
Starbucks stop. After a few minutes he started telling me again that
we were not going the right way. And an hour later we were still
hearing from the peanut gallery and he was adamant that we needed to
turn around and go back to get to Starbucks. I was laughing to myself
"as much as I love Starbucks (and trust me, I like it a lot) I
would sooner skip getting coffee than turn around 1 hour into a 4
hour drive to go back for coffee. That's just silly. My nephew was
still concerned that he knew more than I did and I was not listening.
After an hour and a half I asked him "do you trust me?" he
replied to the affirmative. I asked him if I had ever promised to
take him to Starbucks and didn't. He thought and replied, "no."
Then I asked him if he knew that I loved him and he replied with a
yes. Then I told him that I knew a little bit more than he did and he
needed to trust me and just enjoy the ride to Grandma's house. My
interrogation produced about 15 minutes of silence from the lad and
then he emphatically tried to impress upon me the need to turn around
and go back to Starbucks. A few minutes later we pulled into our one
of our beloved coffee shops almost 2 hours into our trip and I heard
this gasp from the back seat "Oh, Aunt Bekah, this is my
favorite Starbucks! Thank you!" I felt God smile and He asked me
"do I love you? Do you trust me? Like you know the road to
Grandma's house I've seen the road of your life and I know what's up
ahead. I've been there already." I laughed and told God, yes I
get the point. I thought how silly I must look from the back seat
whining "God can we stay here? I'm comfortable here! Daddy, do
we have to keep going? I'm tired. Abba, I don't want to be here,
there aren't any husbands here. You promised me a husband." As
silly as a 6 year old's reasoning was that we should turn around 2
hours into our drive to go back to a familiar place my pleadings and
whining to God must look as childish when He knows the road. He built
it for crying out loud.
So
when I start to get anxious about my future and it seems like I'm
waiting longer than I want to for the promised Starbucks, I remember
this lesson with my nephew and try to enjoy the ride because it will
probably turn out to be my favorite Starbucks.
Snowbank
Another
pinned moment for me came 20 minutes before a night shift for the
ambulance. I pride myself on being a good driver but this particular
stormy winter night I was tired from being over worked and just
wanted to get to work so I could set up my bed and get some rest. I
had just passed the plow truck because he was being to slow for my
liking and took a rather excessive curve a bit too fast for the
conditions, something I don't normally do. My car's rear end started
to fishtail and using my expert driving skills I thought I had just
pulled my car out of a James Bond type situation when my front end
decided that it would be happier cooling off in the snowbank. I was
stuck. I just in the bank just enough that I couldn't back out. I sat
in my car, feeling the stress of being late to work, over tired and
having no way out of this predicament I was moments away from a
sob-fest 2014. Just before the tears and despair set in I said "nope,
I'm not giving up. God has always been faithful, so God, how are you
going to get me out of this one?" I crossed my arms and started
to think. I could start walking but the nearest place to get a phone
was the town I was heading to for work and that was still a good ten
miles out. There is no cell service where I was and the road is
rarely traveled, especially in a storm. I can count on two hands the
number of cars I have passed on that road all winter. Then, not ten
seconds after I prayed/whined, a big 250 pick-up truck came in the
opposite lane. He stopped and asked if I needed help. I was quite
embarrassed to be in the snowbank but graciously accepted whatever
help he could offer. To make a long story shorter after a couple
attempts to pull me out and the plow truck catching up to us and
laying down a few more layers of salt before continuing on, a couple
more people driving by stopped to lend a hand. I was amazed that the
amount of people that were there. I ended up getting freed from the
"banken" and sent on my way to the station, albeit at a bit
slower rate of speed and pulled into work just in time for my shift
to start. That night I reflected on my recent experience and instead
of saying to myself, "well the nice people going by probably
would have been going by at that moment had I not prayed." But I
quickly dismissed that thought and instead replaced it with the
assurance that God is on my side and He will always come through.
Even now when something arises and I don't know how its going to work
out I think back to the snowbank and remember when God answered a
prayer for a tired, cranky girl who was driving too fast and He did
it in 10 seconds.
The
Sink
I
was staying at a friend's house and when I got up in the morning to
make breakfast and do some dishes the first rinse that went down the
sink produced a clog. I texted my friend at work informing her of the
issue. She said if it was grease hot water might work but that there
was drain cleaner in the cupboard. I tried all of it through out the
course of the day. When she came home from work it was still clogged.
Nothing was going through. By now a half of an inch of water/drain
cleaner was standing in the sink. It wasn't even very slowly moving
like it had been earlier. We went out that night and come home. No
change. The following morning it hadn't moved at all. Out of
desperation I said "Holy Spirit, please unclog the sink. We
really don't want to call a plumber." Not a minute later I came
around the corner to see her standing over a completely unclogged
sink. I stood in awe. Then I felt sheepish. Why didn't I ask Holy
Spirit yesterday? Now at this point my mind wants to jump to the
thought "well, maybe the drain cleaner did its thing over night
and just broke free at that moment after sitting all night." But
I again pushed that thought aside and put a pin in that moment. It is
no coincidence that it finally cleared following my prayer. It was
just another moment where God used to show me that He is always there
and does care about the little things. So the next time I'm faced
with something big I'm going to remember Starbucks, the snowbank and
the sink.
