A Mother’s Faith – Part One

But immediately a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit heard of him and came and fell down at his feet. Mark 7:24-25 ESV

It might surprise you to learn, that in long term care facilities, there are also teen-agers in diabetic comas, twenty-somethings, who have suffered strokes and young people with lifelong disabilities who can no longer be cared for by their families. One of these I met in the respiratory ward of a large facility where I volunteered. I was going to visit a friend when I happened to glance in the open door of the adjacent room and saw a teenaged boy lying in the bed. He lay silently with his eyes closed. A lady was sitting quietly by him holding his hand so I paused for a minute, cleared my throat, and introduced myself as a volunteer chaplain.

She turned to smile, then looked back to the boy saying, “Hi, I’m Evelyn* this is my son Joe. Joey’s just seventeen.”  With that she fell silent. So I walked in and sat down. It wasn’t long before she poured out the story of how Joey had gone from being involved in church, being an eagle scout, to experimenting with drugs. One thing had led to another until the night she and her husband got the phone call that Joey had overdosed at a party. After a few weeks in the hospital, Joe still hadn’t regained consciousness and he required a machine to keep him breathing, and so he had come to the room where I met him that day.

While we sat quietly, I asked “Does he like music?” pointing to my guitar.

“Oh Joey loves music!” she exclaimed happily.

“Well he might not know the kind of songs I play, but let’s give it a try.” I suggested.

That afternoon when I played a couple of songs and prayed, was the first of many weekly visits. Though Joey’s condition didn’t change, his mom, just like the woman in today’s passage never gave up and never stopped praying. You see, the story in the Bible is not really about a little girl who needed help and today’s story is not about Joey. The lesson we all need to learn is how to have the faith of these mothers!

Stay tuned tomorrow for the rest of this story!

Photo by Ron Lach on Pexels.com

Tchaikovsky, The Who and Me

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Jeremiah 29:11 ESV

In August of 1882, Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture was first performed with live cannons( fortunately for the audience without the cannon balls!) In 1964 Peter Townsend of The Who carried things a bit further when he smashed his Rickenbacker guitar on stage. On the other hand neither of these compare to the moment that our sons laughingly refer to as, “Dad’s first crush.” It all happened one afternoon as I was rushing off to play for my friends at the nursing home. Being late, I rushed downstairs and out the door with guitar in hand, but minus my car keys. The lack of keys I noticed at the trunk of the car when I reached into my pocket and – tada!- no keys! So I leaned the guitar against the back of our car and raced back inside desperately looking for keys. After a few minutes I happily discovered them and, bounded down the stairs, and out to the car. In relief, I jumped in, started up our old Chevy and threw it into reverse. About half way down the driveway a loud crunching sound alerted me to a detail I had forgotten – my poor guitar!

Though I laughed a little as our two young sons joked with me, it was bittersweet, because back in those days the money for a new instrument was definitely not in our budget. But God had plans! Keeping the story quiet in church was impossible. Our boys couldn’t keep it a secret and especially since they thought it was hilarious! But after the service my friend Rocky quietly came up to me. “You know I wanted to learn guitar a few years ago, but gave up. I have a brand new Takamine in the closet. It’s yours if you need it.” No words were sweeter to me that day! I played that Takamine for 20 years before passing on to our younger son who decided he wanted to learn to play.

God has great plans for us, even when our hopes and dreams get crushed under our own car tires. He knows our needs and loves to provide them, especially when we expect them least!

Arms Around the World

Matthew 25:40 And the King will answer them and say; “Truly I say to you, as you did it to the least of these my brothers, you did it to Me.”

One night recently one of the reporters on the news said we shouldn’t panic about the Corona virus in China because it seems to only kill the old and weak. I confess that I was only half listening and didn’t give it much thought at the time. But the next day as I was singing for people at the nursing home and watching the faces of my precious friends it hit me those old and weak folks that the reporter mentioned are our moms, dads, older brothers and friends.

Though we as believers shouldn’t be fearfully hiding at home we need to recall what Jesus had to say about people considered helpless and less valued in this world. Instead of running in fear we should first pray. Ask God for His grace to help and then ask what we can do to put our arms around all of His family all over the world!

God’s Greatest Purpose is Love

So Joseph said to his brothers, “Come near to me please.” And he said to them, “I am Joseph whom you sold into Egypt. And now do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life.” Genesis 45:4-5 ESV

Too often the unknown stories of residents in long term care are the wounds left behind by unresolved family differences. But the good news is that God isn’t finished with any of us yet. Remember that as a young boy, Joseph had a dream which got him into trouble with his brothers. Some of us probably think of Joseph’s life as a blueprint for success. We figure that if we can just stick it out like Joseph did,  then one day we will get the great job, the big home or the perfect marriage that we always dreamed of. But the story behind Joseph’s problem was his father’s favoritism and because of it the hatred that his brothers had towards him. But then God intervened.

 

God’s dream for Joseph was not about his becoming rich powerful or successful. God’s intention was for Joseph and his family to discover that the greatest treasure of all was forgiveness and reconciliation. Though we can never undo our past, we can find a way forward by learning to forgive, accept and allow God to restore us. The separation of anger, distance or even death can be bridged because on the cross Jesus gave his life so that ours could be restored. This morning’s news is that no matter our memories of past hurts or sorrows; God can heal and through forgiveness discover His greatest purpose is love.