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When They Grow Up, They Get Smart and Everything

A few months ago I wrote a blog I called my replacement blog. I had written a blog that my editor (wife) didn’t want me to post. She felt that it was not fare to the person I wrote it about.  So instead I wrote the blog that appeared on July 13th called “My Replacement Blog”.  Since that time my daughter Karlie as given me permission to post the original blog I wrote back in July.

 On that special day when your first child is born, you really don’t have any idea what will transpire over the years. Sure, you may look right into her scrunched up closed eyes and dream about things to come. You might even take that little wrinkly, slippery body in your arms and begin to make plans.

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But you really don’t have a clue what the next few days will bring, let alone the next several decades.

My daughter, Karlie, is coming home after living on the other side of the country for the last six years. No, she won’t be living in our home, but Richmond Hill is under 3 hours away, and not the 36 hours of straight driving distance that she’s living now.

She should arrive next week … that’s if she doesn’t do anything foolish. Ha, like that would happen! My daughter is responsible, sensible and very determined.

But … she’s also adventurous. So, when she goes for a motorcycle ride with a friend and after the ride the friend says, “Hey Karlie, you want to try riding this bike? She says . . .

The responsible and sensible Karlie says, “No, I don’t think that’s a good idea.”  But the adventurous and determined Karlie says, “Ya, sure I’ll try.”

Now if you were going to try to ride a motorcycle for the first time, you would probably pick some really open area with no obstacles around. When I taught Karlie and Mike to drive, we went to a big parking lot, and to streets that had no cars on them.

That’s the sensible thing to do. Karlie and her friend, well, they chose a parking garage. There weren’t many cars around, but there were cement posts in the vicinity. But with some careful instruction on what to do, Karlie got on the bike with no helmet.

Did I really say she didn’t have a helmet? That must have been a typo. After all, she’s sensible, and in a parking garage. It wasn’t a long ride; short, in fact. Her friend described it as “I’ve never been more scared in my life watching that.”

Somehow she found one of those cements posts in the parking garage. She ran right into it. She wrecked the bike, got a ride in an ambulance, and got a $300 fine. Not bad.

The amazing thing is she’s alive! … and received only a few stitches on her cheek, a black eye and swollen face. No broken bones, concussion or death. We’re praising the Lord right now for His protection.

I love this girl; she’s my daughter. I’ll take her adventurous side as well as her sensible, responsible side. But I wouldn’t have dreamed 24 years ago – on the day Calgary won the Stanley Cup – that my little squirmy, wrinkly baby (who looked very similar to the babies on either side of her in the nursery) would be sporting the same beat up face as one of the guys contending for the Cup!

Here’s the thing: It would be nice to be able to protect those around you, to keep them from harm, or at least weigh in on the decisions they make. That may be a reality when a child is small, but is impossible as they get older. We can become relegated to worry about them and for them. However, God can care for them better than we can, no matter how far away they are. Our job is not to worry, but to trust. Trust God with those you love. It’s really all you can do, and the best you can do.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What’s the scariest story your child or loved one has told you? Leave your comment below.

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Late Night Banking

It was late on a Sunday night, around 10 pm when I arrived at the bank machine to deposit a check.  It was dark; the parking lot was wet from a light rain; there was no one around – not another car in the parking lot.  I went into the bank, deposited the check, withdrew $120, got my receipt and left.

There weren’t many cars on the road; there wasn’t much open.  It was kind of a nice drive.  I had the music in the car cranked, yet it was peaceful.  I had other errands to make, but it was so enjoyable with empty streets and I was getting all the lights.

On my way home, when I got to the last set of lights before my house, for some reason a thought came into my head.  At the bank, I remembered getting a receipt for depositing the money and taking a receipt for the cash I withdrew.  But I didn’t remember taking the cash.

In an instant my quiet, calm peaceful drive turned into panic.  I drove past my turn and put the gas pedal down.  I was about 7 minutes away from that cash machine and I was imagining someone arriving right then to find my bank’s slot machine (I mean, bank machine) had just cashed out, and they won.

I started praying, “Lord, I know there is almost no chance of this happening, but would you keep that money safe for me?”  My mind went back and forth from “maybe it will be there” to “there’s not a chance on the planet that money will still be there”.

The car was moving fast – faster than it should have been moving – but I had no control over it.  I was just trying to steer the vehicle and glad that the streets were clear.  There may have been the odd car that thought I must have had a pregnant wife who was about to deliver her baby, but I went by so fast they couldn’t even tell if there was someone else in the car or not.

I turned at a set of lights, all four tires barely on the road, then made a quick left up to the parking lot.  At first it looked clear but then I saw a car parked outside the bank and my heart sank.

For sure there had been others who had been to the bank.  After all, it had been a half hour since I made that withdrawal.  I screeched up to bank, got out in a flash and went inside the doors.  I looked at the machine . . . no money.  My heart sank, but its not like I  hadn’t pictured it this way.

I turned and went out the door.  That’s when the window of the car parked outside rolled down and a guy called out, “Are you missing some money?”  I said, “Ya, I left $120 in the machine.”  He hopped out of his car and said, “I have it here.”  I thanked and thanked him.  He simply said, “I hope someone would do the same for me.”  I couldn’t believe it.  It was a miracle.

Here’s the thing:  I prayed and asked God to keep the money safe for me, and even though I wasn’t sure He would do it, He even got someone to mind the money for me till I got there.  This reminds me that there is nothing I can’t pray about, nothing that God will refuse me of if I seek Him, even when I have my doubts.

Until Next Time!

Pastor Paul

Question:  When has doubt kept you from praying and asking God?