Late Night Conversation

Late Night Conversation

January 31

 I ask my wife how her retreat went.

"Remember how you felt when you had a defining moment?" she said. "Just imagine feeling that for an entire weekend.  I didn't want to go home. I didn't know how to leave."

"Were you afraid of leaving God behind?"  "Something like that," she whispers.

 “Well you didn’t," I offer, "God is never far away. We just need to stay in touch."

 "For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you." (Luke 17:21)

A WheelChair Story

January 30

 

A young lady tells me “ I need to tell you my wheelchair story.” After a few weeks in Florida she sits in an emergency room scared and alone. “Praying softly I hear God say, ‘ I’m sending you an angel.”

 She waits. She notices an older man in a wheelchair. They talk and after awhile her name is called to see a doctor. She realizes her fear is gone.. She thanks the man for talking with her and then adds; “I don’t even know your name. I’m Sherry.”

He says, “My name is Angel.”

“And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.” Matt (21:22)

One Family's Experiences with Prayer

 

After a year went by, with no television, “Then came God's answer,” Bill said.

 

A board member called reporting that a bank foreclosed on an mansion a year ago and was anxious to unload it.            

 

The Pfeiffers drove over to take a look. A long driveway led uphill to a two-story house. Adjacent to the house was an all weather tennis court and on the other side, a carriage house large enough to serve as a chapel.

 

Inside the sprawling house were four bedrooms and three baths, and a large kitchen, with a commercial size stove, suitable for cooking for small groups.

 

The lower level had an enclosed swimming pool with a small self-propelled robot. One thing the Pfieffers hadn't prayed for was a wet bar off the pool, but in a corner stood a juke box.

 

“Whatever you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.” (Matthew 21:22)

 

Bill and Cindy Pfeiffer

Hebron, CT

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“One time, we were going shopping , but we couldn't find our car keys. We looked and looked but we still didn't know where they were. I suggested we say a prayer to find the keys. We prayed and soon someone had an idea where we should look and there were the keys.

I am thankful for prayer.” ............................Vivian (age 5)

 

"A few days after I was baptized, our family went camping at Crater Lake. When I woke up, I went running through the trees around our campsite. I realized I was missing the CTR ring Grandma Price had given me at my baptism.
"CTR stands for Choose the Right. Whenever I see the ring, I am reminded to make good choices.
"We looked everywhere for that ring, around the tent, in the tent, on the trails around our campsite and in the rest room.
"We couldn't find it. Then my Grandma Pam suggested we should stop and say a prayer to find the ring. During the prayer, Grandma had an idea in her mind. She said we should check the men's restroom again and specifically look on the windowsill.

"Dad and I went to the men's restroom. I was not tall enough to see the sill but dad could and there was the ring.

"We believe someone found the ring and placed it there where it would be more visible to an adult. Now I know to say prayers when I need help.".......................Caleb (age 8)

Our family was on vacation on Maui at our favorite baby beach, when a woman approached and asked if we had lost anything. She seemed like she didn't want to disclose any details about what she had found. I looked around quickly and I told her I didn't think we had.

Later, back in our condo, we realized our GoPro, underwater camera, was missing. Jordan returned to the beach to look for the camera and the woman who had approached me earlier. The kids and I knelt down and prayed that Jordan would locate the camera, When he returned from the beach he was empty-handed.

We posted the lost camera on Craigslist. That evening we received a call that our camera had been found. The caller was the woman on the beach. The next day we gratefully received the camera and the photos saved on it.

We were most grateful to have these experiences with prayer as a family. Our children still talk about them.

Jordan and Shana Price and children

Portland, OR

All in an Instant

 

January 25

My Nephew is driving alone on Route 20 in Charlton MA. A tractor-trailer drifts over the centerline and hits his van behind the driver's seat pushing the van off the road. The rig crashes head on into the car behind, killing the driver. My Nephew is unhurt. The truck driver is arrested.

In an instant, a life is taken, one spared.

"Watch therefore for you do not know at what hour your Lord will come."  (Matthew 24:42

City Slicker

 

January 24

 

I was a teenager from the city and had never ridden a horse. We walked the horses across a divided roadway onto a trail. After a gentle ride in the woods we turned toward home. My horse took off.  I was hanging on for dear life. She bolted across Route 1A, horns blasted, breaks squealed and I screamed. 

 

 God's angel directed traffic that day and even provided the mud for a soft landing when I fell off in front of the barn.

 

"He shall give His angels charge over you to keep you in all your ways."

(Psalm 91:11)

God's Birds

 

January 23

Dr. Jerry Kirk, a  preacher from Cincinnati  said, "God's love for us is unlimited but our ability to receive that love is limited because our receiving mechanisms have been damaged by the world around us.” He asked Dora, twice a widow, what made her upbeat. "Every cardinal, I see I hear Jesus say I love you.”

 The notion of damaged receptors speaks to me. The solution shared by Dora and Jerry has changed how I look at all birds.

 "Consider the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap… yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?" (Matthew 6:26)

Water Towers

                  Water Towers

 

January 21

Driving the rugged arid parts of Arizona and Colorado, I notice a single pile of rocks up on top of a mesa. I learn that these are called "water towers." These rocks tell travelers below that from this point you can see water.

Those Native Americans and pioneers who erected these water towers were truly being neighborly, pointing the way to survival. The water towers are no longer needed but stand as monuments of brotherly love. I need to be a water tower to my neighbors.

" You shall love your neighbor as yourself." (Matthew 23:39)

A Toddler and a Stranger

 My husband and I had been attending the Church of the Way in Van Nuys, California for some time.This particular Sunday was baby dedication day but our 15 month old stayed in the nursery because we had had her dedicated earlier. Following the brief ceremony the parents returned their babies to the nursery.

Looking back, we think that was when a door must have been left open and our little Andrea slipped out of the nursery unnoticed. She apparently made her way outside to the sidewalk and walked between two parked cars. She was about to enter busy Van Nuys Boulevard when a man picked her up and brought her into the church foyer.

He presented her to an elder, saying simply, he found this little girl getting ready to cross Van Nuys Boulevard. The elder recognized Andrea and sent someone to get me. When I saw Andrea, she was lying quietly in the arms of the elder. It wasn’t until she saw me that she began to scream.

Together, the three of us went back to the nursery. Everyone there was upset that Andrea had gotten out and relieved that she was safe.

The man who brought her in was gone and the elder said he hadn’t seen him before. The odd thing was Andrea didn’t go to men, not even to her dad. Her tendency would be to run from a man, especially a stranger. But the elder said she looked very peaceful in the man’s arms, and she didn’t fuss when he took her from him and cradled her.

Some may call this luck but after people had calmed down the sentiment at the nursery was that someone was looking out for Andrea and sent an angel to rescue my little girl.

I would not argue otherwise.

 

Barbara Koukl

Van Nuys, CA

Some quotes to Ponder

 

      

 January 19 

 

“Nothing to excess.”(my dad’s favorite line)

 “Lust says get, get, get. Love says give, give, give.” (a retired pastor)

 "If you are going through hell, don't stop there.." (a businessman)

 “God scorns the proud,but gives grace to the humble.”..(Proverbs 3:34)

Locked Out

January 18

 

Normally when my car is unlocked the trunk is unlocked but now the car is unlocked and I can’t get the trunk open even with a key. The garage owner tries several times-no go. “Take it to a locksmith,” he says. This morning I notice a lone key on the rack. I try it. The trunk opens.  For most of my life I was trying the wrong keys to open the meaning of my life. Then I found the one key that stands alone. Who holds the key to your life?

 

“I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."  (John 14:6)

We are in Life where we Chose To Be

 

January 17

 

     “He is 18, on drugs, is unemployed and has been arrested for stealing. She is 17, pregnant by him and drinks heavily. Both are school drop outs.”

 

The speaker, a minister, lecturer, and author, is addressing a men’s retreat. He asks, "You are the parish priest and this couple comes before you, wanting get married. What do you tell them?

 

After the laughter fades, he says “That couple was my wife and I twenty three years ago.” His point is  we are in life exactly where we have chosen to be.Life is a result of the choices we make. We can choose to believe or not. It is our choice.

 

“He who believes in Him is not condemned but he who does not believe is condemned already…”

(John 3:1)

In whose Image?

 

January 16

Genesis says God created man in His image. My wife asks, “Do we see God in our image rather than seeing ourselves in His image?"

I'm sure my perspective is seeing God in my image. That means God has feelings, emotions, thoughts and memories. OK so far. However, holding God in my image would also mean God has limits. That's not good. That is not God.

So how do we see ourselves created in His image?  It begins with belief! God created us in His image. 

Isaiah. knew in whose image he was created.

 "Those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength;

They shall mount up with wings like eagles

They shall run and not be weary,

They shall walk and not faint."

(Isaiah 40:31)

Late Night Traffic Ticket

 

January 14

 "Let me see your license please? You didn't stop for the traffic light back there."

"I was going right on red, no one was coming."
"You didn't come to a complete stop," he corrected. I'm going to have to give you a citation."

 When the Trooper returned he explained I could appeal the ticket, pay the fine or eliminate the points by attending driver improvement classes.

Driving home my wife broke the silence. "Are you going to pay the fine or go to driver improvement classes?" The way she said those last words did it.I took a deep breath and said; "Lord take away these ugly feelings." He did! I paid the fine.

"Now may the God of patience and comfort grant you to be like minded toward one another according to Christ Jesus." (Romans 15:5.)

My Sister'sClass

 

My Sister’s Class

 

January 12

 

My sister, fresh from graduate school, began teaching in the high school where I was a senior. I was enrolled in her journalism class. One day she walked into the room just as I was throwing a pear at another student. She took one look at me and said sternly, "Get out!"

 

I reported to the assistant principle. Without looking up he asked, “Why are you here?”

 

  “My sister threw me out of her class.” 

 

He stopped writing. I was given two weeks detention and I was grounded at home. I gained new respect for all my teachers, including family ones and a greater appreciation for learning.

 

"Take firm hold of instruction, do not let go; keep her for she is your life.”(Proverbs 4:13

Frog in a Rut

 

January 11

 One night, when I was a boy, my mother told me a simple story. A little frog landed in the middle of a deep tire track in a muddy road. Jump as he might he couldn’t get out. The other frogs headed back to the pond for the night. Splash- little frog was back. . "How did you get out,” the others demanded?

"I just jumped out," said the exuberant little frog, “you see a truck was coming.”
This story stayed with me. Now anytime I'm stuck in a rut, I can jump free.

"For the son of man has come to seek and save that which is lost." (Luke 19:10)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dusty Dog

 

January 10 from my journal

One weekend my sister and I took our dog Dusty to a park. Suddenly head down and nose to the ground he followed a trail down an incline. We watched from the top of the hill. A rabbit appeared and hopped up on a large flat rock. Dusty sniffed right by that rock and continued down the hill. When he was a safe distance away, the rabbit darted off.

There have been times, like Dusty, I was too busy with what I was doing to look up and see the prize. I need to stop sniffing out what I seek and pay attention to what God wants for my life.

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give hope and a future.” (Jeremiah 29:11 NIV)

Trusting the Pilot

 

January 8 from my journal...…..Trusting the Pilot

A winter storm is howling at BWI Airport in Baltimore. My flight to Tampa is delayed as crews plow the runways. Finally it is our turn to take-off. While I pray the plane roars down that snowy runway and up into the swirling storm clouds. The aircraft shutters and shakes until we climb above the storm. It is a smooth flight to Tampa.

When I entered that plane I had totally given up control and put my life in the hands of that pilot.

So why struggle giving the controls of my life to the Lord? Why can't I trust God to pilot my life’s journey? After all, who has had more experience?

"Trust the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding." (Proverbs 3:5)

ps I have done that and trusting God has made all the difference.

Latch Key Kids

 

               

 

 

January 5

This year my granddaughters became latch key children. Their mother joins their dad in the work force to make ends meet. A grandson is in day care.

The worry side of me goes wild thinking of what could happen during those few hours after school. Movies like "Home Alone" just add fuel to the  what ifs? Their parents say, “The girls are eleven and twelve and they know what to do.”

 Then I , remember when I was ten?  The world was at war and my Mom went to do peace work. After school I returned to an empty house. I WAS A LATCHKEY CHILD.

 "Train up a child in the way he should go,And when he is old he will not depart from it."

(Proverbs 22:6)

Vantage Point

 

 

January 4

 

It is a full moon and a pleasant night to walk around the neighborhood. I muse how the ancients viewed this same moon, fearing it and even worshiping it.

 

 John Glenn, the first American to orbit our planet and have a moon’s-eye- view of earth, takes another trip 36 years later. Now 77, Glenn catches the world’s attention on his "flag lap" around earth. Walter Cronkite is back to report the event and the Australians light up their country for Glenn, as they did in 1962.

 

From space Glenn says, " Looking at the Earth from this vantage point, looking at this kind of creation and to not believe in God, to me, is impossible."

 

Right on.

 

"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." (Genesis 1:1)

Leaving Home

 

January 3

On a walk around my neighborhood, I notice a small boy pulling a little red wagon with a suitcase in it. He starts down the street. As I near the house a man comes out, looks in the direction of the boy.

"Leaving home are we," I ask? The man nods.
That boy is testing his boundaries but what he really wants to know is that his parents still love him.

 As a child of God, I have walked away from my heavenly Father. I didn’t get far and I desperately wanted to know that God still loves me.

God tells us all the time that He loves us. We just have to pay attention and listen.

 "Give thanks to the Lord for He is good! His faithful love endures forever."
(Psalm 136:1 NLT)

Airport Delay

 

January 2

My flight from Hartford to Sarasota is canceled. I call Joy and she says "Look around and see who you can help. Go do the Lord's work."As I hang up the phone I spot a man in a wheelchair looking at his ticket. I wheel him to the next gate.

The agent redoes his ticket and turns to me."Oh I'm not on his flight," I tell him, “I ‘m going to Florida but my flight to Charlotte was canceled.""I can get you to Tampa. Will that help?"

Tampa is only an hour away. I arrive home in time for dinner.

" Lord when did I see you a stranger and take you in? Surely I say to you when you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you have done it to Me."  (Matthew 25:38-40)