That’s What Parents Do

On By Michele Huey, Author & SpeakerIn Christian livingLeave a comment

We love, because He first loved us. —1 John 4:19 RSV

At first I thought I had a flat tire. I was on my way to Johnstown to take my college-age son to the doctor.  My son had called earlier, asking me what my schedule was for the day.

“I have a list of things to do,” I said. “Why?”

“Never mind,” he mumbled. 

Turns out he needed a ride to the doctor’s office because he couldn’t shake a weeks-long bout with congestion and persistent coughing, and his car was in the repair shop—that is, Dad’s repair shop, with possibly a blown motor. My husband drove to Johnstown two days earlier to bring it home and, hopefully, fix it or get it fixed. At our expense, of course. Most college kids don’t have the money it takes to fix cars. At least, ours didn’t. He barely had enough to keep his jalopy running.

So I put aside my do-list, gathered the makings of homemade chicken soup, stuffed my checkbook in my purse, and headed for Johnstown. That’s what parents do. 

It was on the other side of Northern Cambria that I heard the whoomp-whoomp-whoomp. I pulled over, put on the flashers, and got out. But none of the tires were flat.  When I walked in front of my 11-year-old Explorer, which boasted nearly 164,000 miles, I heard what sounded like little stones hitting the inside of the hood. I checked the gauges—all were showing normal readings. The noise soon stopped, and after checking the gauges again and listening to the engine, which sounded like it always does, I went on my way. 

That evening with half a tank of gas less than I had before my unexpected trip and fifty-seven dollars more on my credit card (for medicine—that’s what parents do), I arrived home. My husband popped the hood and examined the engine.

“Look,” he said, pointing to the belt that ran the engine and just about everything else. 

It was split in half—but lengthwise, so that although half the belt was twisted up and useless, the other half still held, running the engine and getting me home safely. 

“You ran on prayer,” he said, scratching his head. “I don’t know how that held.” 

Or how the broken half didn’t twist around the motor, stopping everything, I thought. Then I grinned. 

“My Father,” I said, the warm fuzzy reaching from my heart to my lips, “takes good care of me.”

You see, that’s what parents do.

Dear God, thank You for Your awesome love for and care of me. It’s exceedingly abundantly above all I can ask or imagine. Amen.

Read and reflect on 1 John 4:7–21.

From God, Me, and a Cup of Tea, Vol. 3, © 2019, Michele Huey. All rights reserved.

Image by prostooleh on Freepik

Hangeth Thou in There

On By Michele Huey, Author & SpeakerIn Christian living, Fruit of the SpiritLeave a comment

The fruit of the Spirit is . . . patience. – Galatians 5:22 (NIV)

Do not throw away this confident trust in the Lord, no matter what happens. . . . Patient endurance is what you need now, so you will continue to do God’s will. Then you will receive all that he has promised. – Hebrews 10:35–36 (NLT)

“Any time a man takes a stand, there will come a time when he’ll be tested to see how firmly his feet are planted.” – Author unknown

It all began with an email—one of those forwards I usually delete without opening. All my bad luck I can blame on deleting them, because most come with a curse or a guilt trip if I don’t forward it to seven or 10 or a hundred friends within seven minutes. 

But this one I opened and scanned the contents. Then my eyes stopped. “God, deliver the person reading this right now from debt and debt burdens.”

With a son in college and the escalating cost of living, it was getting harder and harder to keep our heads above water. 

The Sunday after I received the email (OK, I forwarded it to seven people, including the person who sent it to me—may the gods of cyberspace be appeased), I noticed in the church bulletin an announcement about a workshop for managing finances. “Get control of your finances. Get out of debt.” I read. 

“We’re going,” I told my husband.

After the workshop, we resolved to commit ourselves to getting our finances under control. And we started praying together every morning at 5:30 a.m. before Dean left for work.

At first things seemed to be going smoothly. Two unexpected checks came in that month to help the income meet the outgo. We came up with numerous, creative ways to tighten our belts, streamline and simplify (22 at last count). 

Then our son’s car—the one Dean worked on all summer and into which we’d poured hundreds of dollars—broke down. It was like a giant hand was pushing us back under water. For two weeks, Dean tinkered with it, trying to figure out what the problem was. Then he turned it over to an engine repair shop that’s had it for two weeks and still can’t find the problem.

Meanwhile, we’re asking ourselves, “What’s this going to cost?” 

My freelance income had all but dried up. 

The more I prayed, the more I heard God telling me, over and over and over: Be still. Wait. Be patient.

Waiting is not one of my strong points, and patience is not a virtue I possess in abundance.

But everywhere I turned there it was: on the screen at church as we sang worship songs, on a bowl on a friend’s coffee table, in my devotional readings—Be still. Wait. Be patient. 

My journal pages were filling up with Scripture that jumped out at me and insights that pierced my mind like a well-aimed arrow. On Feb. 27 I wrote:

“I want this time to be over quickly, learn the lesson and move on to better things, out of the hole of debt. But God is doing a greater work in us.

“Our marriage relationship is becoming stronger. We’ve become closer as we discuss things and as we pray together every morning. We try to help each other out of the funk we get in when we focus on the mountain and not on the God who’s bigger than the mountain. We’re seeing more of what we have, than what we don’t have, what we truly need and what we could do without. And God is strengthening the ‘do-without’ so we don’t miss what we’ve eliminated. He’s showing us where we’re weak and helping us to overcome those weaknesses. 

“We’re on the road to a better, stronger, more satisfying marriage; a simple, more satisfying lifestyle and a closer walk with God as we learn to depend on Him and trust Him more and more.

“This process takes time. I should not rush it. God knows what He’s doing.”

Dear God, help me to hang in there. Remind me that what You have in store for us will be worth the wait. Amen.

From God, Me, & a Cup of Tea, Vol. 3 © 2019 Michele Huey. All rights reserved.