It was not exactly clear to see
that the Friday sun was setting behind the western mountains but the hands on
the clock definitely showed that it was that time. The day had been a busy one. But now that the Sabbath hours had come we
could finally rest. The special Sabbath Dinner had been made; all
ready to enjoy with our Mom’s Father, who we rarely got to spend time
with. The house had been tidied, the
floors mopped and all the many little things for Sabbath preparation completed.
These Sabbath plans had been in the
works ever since Christmas and now that it was here the whole family was naturally
eager to finally spend the day with our Grandfather.
I myself was tuckered out from the demanding
day and eagerly sat down to finally relax and enjoy the beautiful winter
wonderland from the cozy inside of our clean warm house.
“I just got a phone call,” Mom
announced, while walking down the stairs, phone in hand. My mind raced back across the day somehow
thinking that phrase sounded familiar. “Oh who called?” came the familiar
question from somewhere. “Well that was
Grandpa” Mom paused as if she hated to continue and it was clear to see that
something was wrong. “And What?” Someone pressed, eager to hear what was up. “Well that was Grandpa,” Mom started again,
“and he just found out that he is going to have to work tomorrow.” The words seemed to punch me in the stomach
and send my mind whirling. My thoughts desperately raced but my Mother was not
yet finished. “He is not going to be able to come until five or so.” In my minds’ eye I could see the two
perfectly made Lasagnas in the refrigerator, the two loves of homemade French
bread that were already buttered and ready, and the Pineapple upside down cake
that was cooling on the counter. It was
all there just ready for Grandpa to come!
This news was bad enough but it was
not the first that had hit at our Sabbath plans. Earlier that day Mom had received a call from
the speaker letting her know that the weather was just too bad and they would not
be able to make it. All day long we had
been seeking to find an answer to this glitch that had come into our path, but
without success. Since our Mother was
the speaker coordinator, the entire weight lay on our family to find an answer. Mom was really good at the job, but it seems
that no one likes to be asked on Friday if they will speak the next day.
And now that the Sabbath hours had
come another problem came falling into our laps. It was simply this; what were we going to do
for Sabbath lunch? We could move our
lunch plans down to supper, that was easy enough, but what about lunch? We had made nothing for potluck! that may
seem like no problem at all in a large church, but in our small church, we were
the main one’s that brought food for everyone else to eat. And besides, feeding a family of six, two of
them being teenagers, takes a bit of food. Potluck was out of the picture. But what else could we do?
My mind was racing and plummeting,
in search for any answer. I keep
stressing and stewing- working myself up until I was nearly in tears. I spent the whole evening like this, but
could think of nothing. Nothing to fill
the speaking slot, and nothing to do for tomorrow’s lunch.
Our family had a long conversation
trying to find answers, but could not come up with anything. It was finally decided that we needed to go
to bed and get some sleep. After Family
worship we said a prayer in which my dad entrusted the whole situation to our
kind Heavenly Father! But I was not even
thinking of giving the whole thing to the Lord. In my mind it was still an
emergency that needed taken care of before I slept.
I kept my thoughts on high speed,
as I got ready for bed. There was not much time left if I was going to solve
this before I fell asleep, and I was determined to have some kind of answer. By
now I felt mentally and physically drained.
The more I searched for answers the bigger the problem looked until it
seemed like a mountain that I could not cross.
As I changed into my night clothes,
tears tricked down my cheeks from the sheer agony of the struggle. “Victoria,”
It was Christ calling to my heart and I was ready to listen. “Do you
think this came as a surprise to Me? Do
you think I cannot see the future?”
These words seemed to shock me and bring me back to reality. “Well
of course not! You can see the end from the beginning.” It seemed as if my mind was beginning to
clear from the fog of worry and stress that had covered it for the last few
hours and was becoming prepared for the next question Christ longed to
ask. “Then why are you worrying about
it?” It was as if a light came on in my mind. It was all so clear and foolish looking from
the eyes of eternity to be stressing over a sermon and a mere meal. Immediately the words of a familiar song came
into my thoughts. “Trust and Obey for there is no other way to be happy in Jesus but
to trust and obey.” I had wanted to obey whatever the command was
for me to perform but what I really needed to do was trust the Father. At that moment, I surrendered all to Christ
and oh what peace flooded my soul.
In my prayers that night I thank
God for having a plan and answer for my problem. And though I had no clue what tomorrow might
hold in store for me I was ready for the adventure. I fell asleep singing the song, “Life is an
adventure following the king!”
I awoke in the morning with the
same calm and trust in Christ. I had
placed it all in the Lord’s hands and now it was His problem. My Father did the sermon for church. It was on learning to lean on Christ. It was one that he had already preached
before, but it seemed to fit so well with the experience of last night. For lunch my dad’s mom invited us over to
enjoy haystacks, and all that was needed was some salad, which we had. My mom’s
dad came over in time for supper and fellowship. And we all enjoyed seeing him again.
It was all an amazing blessing from
a “messed” up day. If only I had trusted
Christ sooner.
