Cast, Don't Carry

“Give your worries to the LORD; He’ll never let you down." -- Psalm 55:22

Nikki was thrilled – a few days set aside to spend with her aging father.  Today they’d venture into the Utah desert.  They were making progress toward a fossil quarry along a dirt road barely recognizable due to the sand drifts, when they hit a rock that punctured their oil pan.  Sans fluid, the car came to an unexpected stop.  Unimaginable - they weren't prepared for the harsh conditions they were about to experience.

After a bone-chilling night hoping someone would happen by, Nikki had no choice but to hike back in the direction they came from.  After 27 miles and suffering from the early stages of dehydration, she arrived at the main highway.

Still nearly 50 miles from the nearest town, she felt like crap.  Her head ached; she felt nauseous.  It was a short hop from heat exhaustion to heat stroke.  Her body's temperature was rising too fast: overheated muscles caused almost unbearable cramps. 

Having failed as a hitchhiker, Nikki laid down to rest between the white line and the brush on the side of the road.  She closed her eyes and tried to rest, but her mind raced.  All week, the Lord had been speaking to her about casting burdens or cares upon Him - now here was that theme again!  It was time to hand over all her worries to Him.  If she’d messed up, He was big enough to handle it!  Nikki didn't need to carry the load.  Sweeet!

Her vision began to fade: she no longer could hear anything.  Her body’s ability to cool itself stopped working; she was quickly losing consciousness.  Permanent disability or death would follow if she didn’t get emergency treatment soon.

Suddenly brilliant white lights emerged, followed by peaceful euphoria.  No doubt - she was now in the presence of her Lord and never wanted to leave.  Had she crossed over?

Then came voices; her vision slowly returned.  The intense lights were from a hospital exam room.  Nikki had no idea how much time elapsed, but she had survived somehow.

Later she would learn that a woman named Maura had come across her father, almost unconscious in the car.  He caught a lift with Maura and they found Nikki’s lifeless body on the side of the road.  A body on the roadbed works better than a thumb!

Maura drove them both to the nearest hospital – she’d finished the job Nikki couldn’t.

We’ve all faced seemingly unbearable challenges.   Isn’t it wiser to put our trust in God?   He never fails us and nothing is impossible with Him.  As He blesses you today, remember to offer Him sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving with a joyful heart.

Almighty God, we weren't meant to carry our burdens, we were meant to cast them. We know You care perfectly for each one of us. Teach me to humble myself - admit my inability - and cast every worry, trouble, and care upon You.  Amen

Just One More Day

Compared to eternity, your life is a blip on the screen of time. ~ Psalm 90: 5-6

Couldn’t God have seen fit to give him a break today?  All Andrew wanted was to have the old park bench near the playground . . . his sanctuary . . . all to himself.

But an unfamiliar man occupied the weathered seat beneath the towering maple tree: the bench where he and his wife had talked of changing the world; the bench where they watched their children master the monkey bars.  On this very spot he’d learned of her cancer.  If only he could have one more day with her!

He slid onto the end of the wooden slats.  Maybe the guy would leave if he opened his Bible.  The stranger glanced over and then turned to watch a young girl on a turquoise bicycle.   Ducks raced along the luminous river in front of them, snapping up chunks of bread the youth tossed.

“Beautiful day isn’t it?” the man said trying to make conversation with Andrew.  “That’s my daughter!”  

Getting no response, he glanced at his watch, then called to her.  “What’s say we head home, Kourtney?”

Kourtney pleaded, “Just five more minutes, Daddy.  Pleeeease?  

The man nodded and Kourtney continued riding her bicycle as if were her job.  Minutes passed before her father stood and called again.  “Time to go now?”

Again Kourtney begged, “Five more minutes, Daddy.  Just five more minutes?”

“OK,” he chuckled to himself.

“You certainly are patient,” Andrew suggested looking up into eyes as soft and damp as green moss. 

The man smiled modestly before responding.  “Her older brother Mason was killed by a drunk driver last year while riding his bicycle near here.  I never spent enough time with him and now I’d give anything for just five more minutes.  I won’t make that mistake with Kourtney.  She thinks she has five more minutes to ride her bicycle.  Truth is . . . I get five more minutes to watch her play.”

Life’s about priorities.  If you only had one more day or five more minutes . . . what would you do? 

I’d make time for some longer and deeper conversations with people I love.  There’s some things I’d want to make sure didn’t go unsaid before departing this life.  Don’t miss the chance to sit down with your children and tell them how proud you are of them.  Don’t fumble the opportunity to spend time enjoying your aging parents.  Don’t forget to thank a friend for helping shape your character. 

Stop chasing after all the stuff that doesn’t matter.  Don’t let good intentions turn to painful regrets.  The clock’s ticking.  You don’t get a second shot at today.  It’s later than it’s ever been! 

Holy Father, help me to live as if I had only one more day - more about today, less about tomorrow; more about people, less about possessions; more about the eternal, less about the secular; more about Your priorities, less about mine.  Amen

Homeless of the Brave

“There has to be some way that we can save, those living in the land of the free, and the homeless of the brave!" ~ Jeff Rose

To say that Randy was down on his luck would be a gross understatement.  Once a proud Marine Sergeant, he became a broken shell of himself having returned from Iraq with both PTSD and a disabling injury.  Today he picks through garbage; every piece a new discovery.

Sometimes only the dead return from combat.  When a person experiences the horrors of war and all its brutality – it’s almost impossible for them to ever believe again that the world is safe and reliable.  It’s sad really!   Like so many young soldiers, Randy didn’t realize until he returned home from the battlefield that he’d landed in hell; a living corpse trapped in his mind’s desolation.

Digging for treasure in a pile of trash, Randy wondered how it ever got this crazy.  His wife and daughter had welcomed him home, but were unable to heal his wounded spirit.  He wanted to go back to the desert; he needed to go back!   But his injury put him out of action . . . and seriously depressed.

Unable to resume his former life, Terry left his family behind – all except “Duke,” a stray shepherd who’d “adopted” the family and quickly became Randy’s constant companion.   They’d been inseparable for years, living the streets, begging for loose change, and eating from dumpsters. 

Then Duke became seriously ill.  Randy was forced to leave him at the veterinary clinic, ashamed he didn’t have the money to put Duke down painlessly.  Fortunately for Duke, Dr. Kinsley, a compassionate veterinarian invested her own money to treat the ailing canine. 

Duke survived!  So Dr. Kinsley posted fliers throughout the area searching for Duke’s rightful owner.

Randy’s daughter Alicia recognized Duke from one of the posted fliers and realized that her Dad must still be alive.  Her search for him began immediately.  Randy, suffering remorse for deserting his faithful friend at the vet’s clinic and for leaving his family ten years earlier, prayed daily for forgiveness. 

It was a community of strangers that brought them all back together again – the wounded Marine, his beloved Duke, and a wife and daughter who never stopped loving them both.  Finally, the “Land of the Free” returned one of its own triumphantly from battle.

I’m fortunate.  I’ve never seen a bomb drop or experienced severe hunger.  But they have – soldiers like Randy who wear no fatigues and carry no weapons but push carts filled with their worldly passions, talking to themselves because no one else listens.   Disgraceful how can we claim to “support our troops” then give them nothing but dirty looks at their outstretched hands?

Dear Lord, they return to a home that may never be home again – veterans diminished by things that haunt them forever.  Fill me with Love that knows no barrier, with Empathy that reaches all, and with Faith strong enough for the darkness.  Amen

See, Rescue

“Don’t be afraid, the LORD is always with you." ~ 1 Chronicles 28:20

A vacation was just what Tim and Amy’s marriage needed.   They faced calamitous stress: demanding careers, a mountain of debt, aging parents.  Demanding children topped their list.

An occasional night out wasn’t enough; family vacations afforded no privacy.  Setting time aside to talk was always cut short by some ‘emergency.’  That’s exactly why this trip was sans-kiddies.  Tim’s Mom agreed to watch the kids.  They loved her – and she them.

They backed out the driveway and into another world.  Think gentle ocean breezes, towering palm trees, and piña coladas under lavender cocktail umbrellas.  The resort promised “Caribbean romance, pampering massages, and delectable cuisine.”  The quiet elegance of white sand beaches awaited them . . . and they couldn’t wait!

As they neared the Sub’s exit, Amy noted thick black smoke stealing the clear blue sky.  Tim reversed course to check it out. 

“Thank God it’s not our home, let’s keep moving,” said Amy.  But Tim maneuvered closer, “That’s Fred DuPont’s home; he’s not off work yet, maybe we can help somehow.”

”You’re no fireman!” protested Amy. “Leave it to the pros; we’ll miss our flight if we don’t hurry.”  Tim got out of the car, horror stricken by a home completely engulfed in flames.  A woman on the lawn screamed hysterically: “The children!  Get the children!”

Tim grabbed her by the shoulder, “Where are they?” he screamed.   “In the basement,” she sobbed, “Down the hall and to the left.”

Despite Amy’s protests, Tim soaked himself with the water hose, asked the Lord’s blessing, and bolted for the basement.  Amidst the acrid smoke and scorching heat, he grabbed two tiny bodies, clutching one under each arm like the football star he once was.   As he fled, he heard more faint whimpers.  

After delivering two badly frightened and nearly suffocated children into waiting arms, he filled his lungs with fresh air and headed back toward the searing inferno.

Amy stopped him.  “Tim! Don’t go back!  It’s suicide; the floor will cave any second!”  He heard the barely-audible sound of sirens in the distance, but there was no time to wait.  He shook her off and rushed back downstairs, feeling his way down the smoke-filled hallway and into the room.

It seemed an eternity before he found two more children.  They started back, coughing and stooping low to get what available air he could.  As they stumbled up the steps, something seemed strangely familiar about the little bodies clinging to him.

Once in the sunlight and the anxious arms of rescue workers, he realized he had just saved his own two children.  They’d had a play date with Fred’s children.  You just never know . . . what tomorrow will bring . . . or take away!

Lord Jesus, life is fragile.  We never know what moments will make up the fabric of an ordinary day.   Today’s a gift!  Help me live it wisely with prayer and gratitude to share what I’ve been given.  Amen

Rolling Thunder

We want to restore life here, to heal the land, and nourish our souls.  In this place, a scrap yard will become a gateway and a strip mine will grow into a flowering meadow."  ~ Flight 93 Memorial Committee

The ground is sacred here – peaceful, simple and timeless.  Jordan felt an enormous sense of pride and humility as she surveyed the hillside.  Originally wilderness forest, it was later stripped and excavated for coal mining.  Today it’s a gravesite. 

On this very site nearly a dozen years ago, 40 heroes rose up together, making the ultimate sacrifice for freedom, defending our nation’s capital.  Today this hallowed site serves as a valuable touchstone for all Americans – about courage, about self-sacrifice, about defending liberty.

Contemplation is as vital to Jordan as breathing.  She wondered what it would have been like that morning aboard the Boeing 757 bound for San Francisco.  They were people from different worlds: salesmen, students, executives, and retirees: husbands, wives and parents.

Who knew as Flight 93 lumbered down runway 4L, pulled up and banked to the west, that passengers on the right side of the plane would see lower Manhattan’s World Trade Center towering above the skyline for the last time?

Who knew that 40 minutes into the flight, four hijackers wearing red bandannas and armed with plain box cutters, would force themselves into the cockpit and seize control of the aircraft from experienced pilots?

Who knew that once alerted to a confirmed hijacking that an F-16, scrambled from a base in Virginia was closing in on them with orders to shoot the plane down with heat-seeking missiles before it got to Washington, D.C.?

Who knew that when the passengers realized the plot, they decided to fight instead, rising up like their forefather’s, to defy tyranny and fight to take the plane back from the terrorists?

Who knew that among the rolling farmland near Shanksville, Pennsylvania and the last place one would expect a drama involving Arab hijackers, that their world would come to an end when the jumbo jet burrowed into the dew-laden pasture.

Who knew that these ordinary “citizen soldiers” would become the first casualties in a strange new war against a cowardice enemy destined to destroy the American way of life?

Who knew then that this incredible act of bravery and sacrifice would lead to a stronger sense of patriotism, resolve, and a reaffirmation of the value of human life?

Jordan stood at the wooden gate that now protects the hallowed ground, staring at the boulder placed to mark the precise crash location.  It could not have been a quick death – those brave souls knew exactly what they were about to do.  For an instant Jordan questioned her own courage: Would she have done the same?

Lord, since 9-11 we see the sky differently, we travel our countryside in awe and we remember the thunder that rocked our mountains. We treasure the gift those heroes gave us, the sacrifices they made for us, and their courage to remain free.  Amen