The Scout

"Do you think we should take our vacation time to try to find an apartment and jobs?" Jim asked.

"That make sense," I replied.

We threw our suitcases into our beige and brown Dodge Aspen, dropped the dog off at Jim's folk's house, and headed out across "the agonizing expanse" (Pennsylvania) to New York.

A friend offered his guest room and so we set about lining up job interviews and scouring  the "Real Estate" section of the classified ads for apartments (no, Craig's List did not exist).  Every day for five days we went through that same exercise but to no avail.

Discouraged and very anxious, we packed up, said goodbye to our friend and headed back to Ohio.  "What are we going to do?" we worried.  "Seminary starts in a month and we have no house, no jobs and no money."

Moving day came and we went to the U-Haul place and rented two orange and silver "pull behind trailers."  My parents and sister came to help us with the final packing and loading.  We said our good-byes to Jim's Mom and Dad, put our little black dog in the only space left in the back seat of the car, and headed east to my folk's New Jersey home.

As we drove we discussed our strategy.  The plan was to get to my parent's house and unload all our belongings, return the trailers to U-Haul. Then when we found an apartment we would re-rent the trailers, re-load, and head to New York and unpack.  It all seemed overwhelming and I begged God to go ahead of us and find us a home so we wouldn't have to enact the plan.

We made it to New Jersey and Jim and I collapsed with fatigue but my sister had to be at her job that evening in New York, so my parents and sister got back in the car and drove the additional hour and a half.  As they were leaving I jokingly said, "Mom, please find us an apartment while you're in New York."

"Wake up, Steph," I heard "there's a phone call for you."

"Hello," I said in a sleepy voice.

"Steph, it's Mom.  We found you an apartment so you and Jim need to get in the car and come as fast as you can.  The owner will hold the house for two hours."

Jim and I scrambled and met my folks in New York.  They led us to the little white stand-alone house with a red front door and cute porch.  The landlord gave us the tour.  It had the perfect numbers of rooms (the green shag carpet was a bonus) and since my sister was going to live with us while she finished her senior year in college, we all decided this was the place for us.  Oh wait there was the small matter of our dog.  My mother asked the owner, Mrs. Nunez, "May they have their dog in the apartment?"  The soft-spoken lady hesitated and then replied, "Everyone loves a dog...yes, they may keep their dog."

Our last question after signing the lease was, "Could you please tell us what our new address will be?"


"18-A Ohio Avenue," was the response.  We were all stunned.  We were moving from Ohio to Ohio.  God had a sense of humor!!

In the Old Testament book of Deuteronomy it says:

"The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.”

The Lord went ahead of us and scouted the perfect house for us.  Shortly after that, He connected us with jobs. We had been nervous and anxious but God had already chosen the perfect situations for us.
 
In the last several weeks I have prayed Deuteronomy 31:8 as a prayer for myself and my friends.  I have prayed that God would go before us into operating rooms and infusion rooms.  I have prayed that He would go before friends to job interviews and sales calls.  I have prayed that God would go before us in parenthood and elder care.  I have envisioned Him scouting those places and circumstances.  He knows all about those experiences before we ever get to them.  Therefore do not be afraid or discouraged.  Your Heavenly Father will never leave you or forsake you.

The President

Jim and I were sitting at our kitchen table talking about the vast contrasts in the character of God--all power versus tender love.

"It reminds me of the famous picture of President Kennedy," I suggested.  Jim knew what I was referring to and he agreed.

I'm sure most of us are familiar with the iconic photograph of President J. F. Kennedy working at his ornately carved desk in the Oval Office while his toddler son, John John, played under the desk. But probably less known to many of us is the wonderful black and white image of the President setting aside his work to clap for his children as they danced about in his office.

Think of it. The then most powerful leader in the free world stopped what he was doing to be a playful father with his children. He did not give up his authority as a world leader, he just moved into his role as proud daddy.  His focus in that moment was all about his pride and joy--Caroline and John John.

 

These historic (for some of us modern history and for others "ancient" history) photos beautifully illustrate the Old Testament writing in the book of Zephaniah:

 

"The Lord your God is with you, 

he is mighty to save.  

He will take great delight in you,

he will quiet you with his love, 

he will rejoice over you with singing."

The ruler of the universe who possesses all power and authority chooses to dote on you and me and when we are worn out from the "stuff" of life, He quiets us down and sings to us--a lullaby.  Can you think of a more tender picture?  You and I are the joy and delight of the mighty God!

 

The Ingredients

"Jim, will you cook with me?"

"What are you making?"

"Lasagna," I replied.

"OK, what do you want me to do?"

Jim got my largest red dutch oven out and we began to add ingredients to the pot.  We browned sweet sausage and ground beef.  We dropped in the diced onions, garlic, carrots and celery and sauteed them for a bit.  I opened great big cans of diced tomatoes and tomato puree.  Jim poured them into the pan, trying to avoid the splash.  He stirred the rich brew.  A wonderful smell rose up out of the red pot as everything began to bubble.  It was time for spice--basil, oregano, sugar, salt and pepper were added.  Jim and I each tasted the sauce as we went along.  We agreed that we had created a fine mixture but it wasn't as thick as we would like.

"Maybe we need to add tomato paste," was Jim's suggestion.

"I think you're right." 

Minutes later we added the thick paste to the sauce.

"Perfect."

We moved on to layering noodles, tomato sauce and the cheese sauce.  This is going to be great, we both announced.

Over the last months and weeks sweet and sad experiences have come into my life.  As stand-alone events, those hard situations feel crushing but peppered with God's grace they become part of the mixture of my life.  The sweet and sad balance each other and add depth to my life.  (I would never eat a raw onion but added to the sauce it adds flavor and depth.)

In the Old Testament book of Ecclesiastes it says, "there is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens...a time to weep and a time to laugh."   All the ingredients are necessary for a rich life.