Driving through a fog

Week of April 13

 

I was traveling out of town on a freeway when the weather turned bad and fog began to limit visibility. Traffic slowed and eventually became stop and go.  I decided to get off the freeway and exited behind a car that had a number plate that was outlined by a purple neon light. I couldn’t see very well but I could see those purple lights. As I was driving slowly through that fog I began thinking about the past five months.

 

A transition team I had been a part of was charged to find a new senior pastor for our church.  I was lamenting all that time spent in confusion and seeking direction. I now realized that this had been a process. It wasn’t about finding a new pastor it was about being humble and obedient to God.  Like the church at Ephesus, we had to be reminded, “You have forsaken your first love.”

 

  I followed that car for an hour and a half. It was as if God was using the neon light to say, “you need me, keep your eyes on me and I will lead you one step at a time.” The fog lifted and the car in front slowed to turn back onto the freeway. It was then I drew close enough to see the words at the bottom of the number plate. It read, “Jesus Loves You.”

 

Frank Burns

Dallas Texas

Shift Lanes

 

 Week of April 7

When I was 19 years old I lived in Tracy, California. One night I was out with some friends in Stockton, about 20 miles away. I was driving home alone about 2 am on old Highway 50. The highway splits into two high narrow bridges over the San Joaquin River, one for north bound and one for south bound traffic. The bridges are steep so that you can’t see the other side.

 

There was no traffic on the road at that hour and I was traveling the speed limit. I was in the left hand lane going up the south-bound bridge when, for some unexplained reason, I steered into the right hand lane. A moment later I was in the middle of the bridge when out of nowhere, a car came speeding the wrong way in the lane I had just left.

If I hadn’t changed lanes there would have been a head on collision in the middle of that high narrow bridge. There was nowhere to go except over the edge into the river below. I know that I would not have survived the crash or the river.

 

Decades later I still shiver at the thought of what could have happened that night. There was no reason for me to change lanes. I was saved by an angel that night, I’m absolutely sure.

 

Mary (Kiser) Bartlein

Tracy California

Pray Specifically

 

 

Week of April 1 (no fooling)

 

 She is introduced as Ms Julie. You don’t use last names when you are running from an abuser. She rode a bus to Florida with one suitcase and the clothes on her back. She had been directed to a shelter. She obtained a job waiting table at a restaurant within walking distance of the shelter.  

 

 

 

"What I really needed was a car to go on interviews and find a better job. So I prayed very specifically for a four-door Camry (she had had one once) so I could take people to church with me. I wanted a clean beige or brown car.

 

"A few days later I received a call from a caring organization that donates used cars to needy people. They had heard of my plight and called to say they had a car for me.

 

“When I arrived to pickup my car I was told the donor had taken it to a car wash. A few minutes later a car entered the parking lot and I knew it was a gift from God. It was a sparkling beige four-door Camry and it was clean.”

 

Ms Julie

Sarasota County

The Red Couch Lesson

 

 Week of March 24

Dean and I were trying to wait to buy a nice couch set once I got a full-time job. The living room consisted of a huge pile of blankets and pillows on the floor. Since I was working from home and had to deal with no comfy place to sit all day, I talked Dean into considering second-hand couches on Craigslist that we could get right away. Our budget was $50, but I saw a red couch in great shape online for $75.

 

My husband agreed to go out with me to see it. Unfortunately, it had rained that day and the folks selling it had stored it outside under a ripped plastic tarp and it was pretty wet. Dean also noticed a stale smell.

 

I wanted a couch so badly though, that I was willing to overlook the smell and dampness... I thought we could just wash it! Dean was set  against it and I was really disappointed. We had an argument in which he said he thought God had something better in store for us. I told him that I thought he had just missed what God had for us and proceeded to walk off!

 Later that night, we both apologized and decided to go out to  Goodwill stores the next day.

 In the morning our cat, Billow, accidentally scratched my eyelid (ouch!), so I was wearing a pirate eye patch and we didn't head out until the afternoon. Two Goodwill's later, It was ten minutes to 5 p.m., and a Goodwill employee told us to check out the Salvation Army around the corner. Sure enough... a red, dry and nice-smelling couch in great condition was on sale for $50. The store was closing in 10 minutes and we agreed right away that it was the one! Everyone at the store was being very nice to me too, perhaps because of the eye patch. After a few minutes, a friend was able to drive over in her pick-up truck and help us get it home.

 Lessons I learned: Be patient. Don't grasp so tightly to material things that I blow up at my husband (and look like a fool)! Trust God. I think He actually does care about the little things in my life too.

 

Jessica  Mcleod
Greensboro, South Carolina

Some Prayers take time

Week of March 17

A small group were meeting in a Sarasota, Florida home and were praying about starting a church.One person said they were envisioning a church being like Willow Creek, a large nondenominational church in West Barrington Il.

At this point the hostess opened her purse and pulled out a tattered newspaper clipping about Willow Creek. She said, "I've been praying for a church like that to be started here." She had kept that clipping for 12 years.

"Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray,believe that you will receive them and you will have them." (Mark 11:24)

R.M.Salter
Sarasota, Fl.

Basketball Blessing

Week of March 10

 

March Madness is upon us and I am reminded of the closing minute of a youth basketballgame. May youngest son, age 10 then, was on that team and I was the coach, I realized that the lone girl of that team was the only player that hadn't scored at least one basket all season. This was our last game.

I called a timeout and told the boys to get the ball to Missey and I told her to stand near the basket. I can't say I said a little prayer, but God knows the desires of our heart.

On their last next trip down the floor the boys passed the ball to Missey and she threw it up and it hit under the rim and bounced right back to her. She pushed it up again and this time it went in. Game over. High fives all around.

An excited Missey rushed over to her coach. As we hugged I had no idea that I was embracing the future mother of three of my grandchildren.

 

Mal Salter

Wethersfield Ct.

Grandmother's Advice

Week of March 3

 

My grandmother gave me a Bible when I went off to college. She said “read it when you feel down or need a lift.” I thanked her politely and frankly went on with my life.

 

Many years later, after a marriage, several children and many job changes I found myself in a bad place. I was really down, lacking direction in my life and bordering on serious depression. 

 

While rummaging in a closet  I moved a towel and there was the Bible my grandmother had given me. I felt the hairs standup on the back of my neck.

 

I took the advice of that gentle lady and I began reading the Bible. A few days later I told my parents about finding the Bible and what grandmother had said when she gave it to me.

 

“What day did this happen?” my mother asked. After I told her my mother had this curious smile on her face. “That is the anniversary of when your grandmother died.”

 

 I can say the advice my grandmother gave me did a lot more than give me a lift; it has changed my life.

 

Jim Cooper

Ft. Lauderdale, Florida