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Coincidence? Not at all.

Aug9

I love to tell real life God stories, and when I have a good one I can’t resist sharing.  If you are connected with the Lamp on Facebook, you are aware of what happened.

I was picking up a few things at Babies-R-Us last night, when suddenly I heard a mother screaming for a doctor and frantically asking for someone, anyone, to call 911.

I quickly rounded the corner to see the distressed mother and child, as store staff and medically trained customers rushed toward her.  Her baby hung loosely in her arms after what appeared to be a seizure. Within seconds of the panic, before anyone even got through to 911, a man held the door open shouting ”there’s an ambulance and paramedics right outside,” as he waved the mother toward the exit.  The team immediately grabbed hold of the child to intervene, and moments later the lights of the ambulance faded into the distance.

As I paid for my items, I asked the clerk how the paramedics knew to be there.  “They didn’t.” she replied, “They weren’t responding to a call, they just happened to be here.”  Tears were in her eyes as she recognized the mystery of the moment.  Chills ran through my body. It was 8:30 on a Wednesday evening, and an entire team of paramedics just “happened” to be right outside of a baby store.

I don’t know any more of this story.  I don’t know what condition the baby was in after the seizure, and I don’t know how she is doing today.  I don’t know what circumstances brought the mother or the ambulance crew to stop at that particular store last night at that very time.  Maybe the mother, like me, needed to get out of the house for a little bit.  It is possible the driver of the ambulance needed to pick up a package of diapers on his way home from a previous call, or maybe they had been called to answer an earlier emergency in the parking lot and were there finishing their paperwork.  I can speculate any number of things.

What I do know is this: No human effort was put forth to bring about the perfect timing of their rescue response.  They were there before anyone, including themselves, knew they needed to be there.

Once again, God’s mercy and love leave me in awe.

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If you liked this post you might also enjoy That time I punched an eight year old, or A Passage Once Wrestled.

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His Mother’s Son

Jul27

My son is 16 months old.

He’s learning a lot.

But he’s teaching me more.

He uses baby sign language to tell me what he wants.

Last week he finally learned how to ask for help, after months of showing him the sign each time I responded to his desperate SCREECHES for assistance.  If the sign doesn’t seem to do the trick, he will grab my hand and lead me to exactly where he needs me.

I know him well, though, and I usually know what he’s after before he even tries to tell me.

He has quickly become an expert at asking for help.  At the first sign of trouble, he knows where to run.

He knows some things: Mom is bigger.  Mom is stronger.  Mom is smarter.  I can’t do this by myself, but my mom can.

There are still some big things that he tries to do without my help, but they often end poorly.

I am quick to rescue him when his independent spirit strolls towards danger.

Still, while he knows I am here to help him and care for him, he is always looking for a new way to do something all by himself.

There are many times that he asks me for help or shows me what he wants, and I do not help him.  There are many times I must say, “no.”

I love him too much to do all the things he is asking me to do.

He does not like my “no.”

He cries.

I reassure him that I love him, though in those moments he is not very lovable.

I look at him with sympathetic eyes,

And I find I am just like him.

And so I pray.

Lord, you are bigger.  You are stronger.  You are smarter.  I can’t do this by myself, but my GOD can.

You have heard my screeches.  You know where my hand wants to lead you.  You know me well.  You know what I’m after before I try to tell you.

I might think I’m an expert at asking for help.  At the first sign of trouble, I run to you.

But there are still so many things that I try to do without your help, and they often end poorly.

You are quick to rescue me when my independent spirit strolls towards danger.

Still, while I know you are here to help me and care for me, I am always looking for a new way to do something all by myself.

There are many times that I ask you for help or show you what I want, and you do not help me.  There are many times you must say, “no.”

You love me too much to do all the things I am asking you to do.

I do not like your ”no.”

I cry.

You reassure me that you love me, though in those moments I am not very lovable.

LORD, forgive me.  Give me wisdom.  I will trust you.

Not my will, but yours be done.

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Check out the side panel for all the great blogs I link up with from week to week!
If you liked this post you might also enjoy The First of Many: The Titus 2 Woman, A Passage Once Wrestled: Proverbs 31, or A Lonely Calling
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Time to Pray

Jul9

For years now I have been using my time in the shower and getting ready in the morning as prayer time, and for years now this time has been my only really “focused” time of prayer throughout the day.  Now we do pray before our meals as a family and my husband and I pray together before going to sleep at night, but often that time of prayer is led by my husband and often it is prayer of gratitude and routine petitions regarding our close friends and family or current circumstances.  I can not tell you how many times I have thought to myself, “I don’t spend enough time praying for others!” and how many times I have planned to increase my prayer time in this area and failed.

A few days ago I read a post on the Girltalk blog by Carolyn Mahaney that referred to something her friend calls “praying work.” (Click here to read the short entry.)  As the post explains, her friend intentionally uses her time during thoughtless tasks for focused time of intercessory prayer.  She closes the post by asking you to consider your daily routine and ask, “What tasks can you turn into praying work?”

So I have been asking myself this question for several days now and so far I have come up with the following tasks I would like to turn into “praying work” starting today:

  • Laundry

  • Ironing

  • Rocking my son before naps or bedtime or while nursing.

  • Driving alone

  • Washing and putting away dishes

  • Waiting in line or in a waiting room

What other times could we turn into “praying work?”