Simple Things

Funny how feelings can change so much with just simple things. Life has been hard for me of late, and actually still is. In fact, all information from my previous post..."I don't know what to do" is still the same. And it stands to reason that when things are tough, your feelings would follow and also be down in the dumps. Just going about the everyday business of life is hard. But the last couple of days I have felt much better.

It all happened Tuesday evening at my son's high school football playoff game. I'd love to say they won (but they lost 31-20) and that they would be playing in the championship game this Sunday. But there was a turning point in the game that was exhilarating. Playing an undefeated team and being underdog doesn't relieve the pain of getting slaughtered in any sporting event. Well midway into the 3rd quarter my son and his high school team were losing 28-0 and it looked like it would only get worse. Then something happened. My son who is only a freshman and gets limited playing time was put into the game to return a kick. This was a big surprise since the coach had a policy of not putting freshmen in to return kicks (no matter how good or fast they are) because of previous examples of good freshmen fumbling kicks in the past, one in particular who made a crucial fumble in a playoff game.

But my son who had been lobbying furiously (he can be quite a pest) to the coaches to put him in got his wish when it was clear the normal returner had been having difficulty with a wrist injury and now with the score 28-0 how could things really get worse. That's when electricity happened. A kickoff to the 20 yard line went straight into Josh's hands. Seeing the line of traffic he found a crease (opening, in normal non football jargon) and burst straight into the open field cutting past a couple of defenders and going all 80 yards into the endzone. I can't tell you how exciting it was to see, just about 10 seconds of absolute thrill.

But what happened next was the real excitement. The run not only put our underdog Quakers on the scoreboard but also woke up the whole team from a slumber. A team that had been inept at best for over a half of football, had that deer in the headlights type of look (I have no idea what to do expression) suddenly came alive and showed great purpose. And sure enough it looked like the teams changed uniforms over the next quarter and a half. I would love to say that the story had a Hollywood ending but it didn't. Overcoming 28 points is a tall order for highschool kids. After getting the game back to 28-20, the Quakers missed a critical 4th down with 6 minutes to go and allowed the Tigers to move the ball from the 50 to the 7 yard line with 3 minutes to go. The defense did make a great stop on 3rd down making the Tigers have to kick a 24 yard field goal (no guarantee in high school football. A miss would have given our squad one last chance to launch one last drive to score and get the 2 point conversion and send the game into overtime. But it wasn't meant to be, the field goal was good and hence a 31-20 defeat.

I hate to talk about moral victories but this really was one. A team with only 3 seniors with a 5-4 record trading punches with a 9-0 team packed with loads of seniors. I left the game proud of my son obviously and looking forward to next year. More importantly it lifted my spirits knowing that things really can change even when you don't see how. I remember turning to another parent when the score was 28-0 and how we dreaded having to sit through what looked like what was about to turn into a nightmare (fumbles, penalties, interceptions, total disaster), suddenly turn around instantly because an improbable occurrence (my son getting into the game returning kicks which he told me would never happen) actually took place. These things happen in life and much more often than we realize. The God who loves us will do all kinds of wonderful things to help us through those times when "we just don't know what to do." And even those simple things like a high school football game can teach us that.

I Don't Know What To Do

During the last couple of days I have been trying to count the ways that God Has been good to me. It's easy to complain when difficulties are right in front of your nose, but it is even easier to take for granted the ways God has provided to you time and time again. But even knowing that I have to say I still find it hard to trust in God when I can't see solutions right in front of me.

Watching "Hannah and Her Sisters" over the weekend made me laugh. I find Woody Allen movies so funny because as the saying goes, "It's funny cause it's true." I am not as obvious a nervous wreck as Allen characters are, but I always find myself worrying about even the most mundane of matters like being late for work. I worry about things that I have a great deal of control over, so you can imagine what I am like when I have no control or I just don't know what to do.

What is so unfortunate about this is that there is a long line of history that assures me there is no reason to worry. As the writer of 2nd Chronicles points out when he quotes Jehoshaphat who says, "O Lord, God of our fathers, are you not a God in heaven."? This is a reference of know God has helped His children throughout human history. He then speaks of how God has intervened time and time again to help His people who are the descendants of Abraham, His friend.

Examples of God's faithfulness are not just stories to read in the bible. They happen to me time and again yet when I am facing a difficult situation, (the worrying, Woody Allen type kinds that go on in my head....I dooooon't knoooow what to do!) I always seem to forget the fact that the God of my fathers has come through for me before. In fact it was not long along where financial times were so tight that we had the electricity turned off for 2 days cause we got way behind on some bills. Inflation, gas prices, other things were putting the cash flow right to the limit. In fact as I looked at options I only saw gloom and doom cause we kept robbing Peter to pay Paul on so many bills and it was just a matter of time when one of the cars would break down and we would have no way to pay for repairs. Then gas prices dropped quickly and dramatically. Along with this my company decided that I could work a 4 day work week instead of 5, saving me 70 miles in round trip a week. In no time my 220 dollars in gas per month (for my car alone) dropped to about 100. This couldn't have come at a better time and though financial times are very tough I do have some breathing room.

The last verse in 2nd Chronicles chapter 20 reads, "We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you (ESV)." This may be one of the very best summaries of the life of the Christian. Lately things have been very difficult in my marriage. There are too many things that have just gone south between my wife and I and it seems we are always saying the wrong things to each other and I feel marriage is on so many levels just not worth it. It's so hard, I am at a lost to make things better, and I am very discouraged. Let me remember that my God, the God of my fathers, is a God who reigns in heaven. Though I may not know what to do, God is never without answers and always provides for His children. He has done it in the past and more importantly He will do it in the future. May I look forward to God's future rainbows when the skies above me are dark and dreary.