Category Archives: Children

Exercise caution.

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Today while running errands I found myself driving behind an erratic driver in a compact car. She was crawling at what seemed like walking speed on a country road with a speed limit of 55.

It was easy to be patient, however, because on the roof of her car was a big yellow sign that said, “STUDENT DRIVER.” As a matter of fact, I was happy to put some distance between us, giving her space to make mistakes without pulling me into the mix. While waiting several car lengths back for her left turn, I breathed a quick prayer of gratitude that I was finished sitting shotgun for 7 driving wanna-be’s in my own family.

Handing the keys to an inexperienced 15-year-old when the minivan he was practicing on was mine, always went against me. One maiden voyage home from the DMV with a new learner’s permit at the controls saw us taking turns on 2 wheels. Thank goodness that’s over.

The saintly patience of driving teachers has always been impressive. A career of climbing in next to one green driver after another, day after day, year after year, has to be the ultimate test of endurance. It must be a difficult life to have to continually be braced for impact.

Of course these dedicated instructors do have one advantage over the rest of us: dual controls. Though they sit on the right like any other passenger, the second set of gas and brake pedals are tools they can use to avert an accident and prevent damage to vehicles, drivers, and themselves.

The idea behind a driving education course is to let a novice accumulate on-the-road experience in a semi-safe vehicle. The job of the trainer, then, is to let them retain control until the last second before disaster strikes, refraining from using the emergency pedals until the student has no time left for a correction.

I like to think of God watching over us in a similar way. There’s just one big difference: he doesn’t always use that second set of pedals when he could. Though he’s able to prevent our every mistake and accident, he usually doesn’t. That’s because we learn best from our blunders.

What if an exasperated student driver asks her instructor to get out of the car? If he does, she leaves herself without a safety net. Both she and the car are at risk, because the experienced feet that had been hovering over the second set of pedals have disappeared. With the Lord, it’s something similar. If we ask him to stay out of our lives, he probably will. He’ll continue to be concerned for us, to love us, and to hope we’ll re-invite him in.

The question is, how much accidental damage will that take?

“It’s best to stay in touch with both sides of an issue. A person who fears God deals responsibly with all of reality, not just a piece of it.” (Ecclesiastes 7:18, The Message)

WALK IN. GET WELL.

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Recently I passed a medical center with an intriguing sign:

BELLVIEW URGENT CARE.

WALK IN. GET WELL.

I guess if you can WALK IN, maybe you can actually GET WELL. Those who are truly ill probably wouldn’t be walking in to that particular facility anyway, although sometimes a minor obvious problem can lead to a greater hidden one.

And that’s the thing about a human body. There’s much that can go wrong. Any of us, if put through a full array of testing, would surely learn something was amiss, despite not feeling any symptoms. But most of us would shun that kind of scrutiny. A more common approach to medicine that works most of the time is to assume good health until a pain forces us to the doctor. As they say, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

So often I think of the tiny baby-body growing within Birgitta. Every day I wonder what remarkable things are taking place in that dark, hidden place.

And thanks to the internet, we can find out. During this week, her 20th, our baby’s brain is refining her 5 senses, developing the nerve cells that serve taste, smell, hearing, sight, and touch. That means our mini-human is beginning to recognize Birgitta’s voice as well as other repeated sounds occurring outside the womb. She might even “jump” in response to a loud noise.

Also this week, paper-thin, miniscule fingernails and toenails are visible, and the soft body hair of a newborn has started to appear. Although Birgitta’s baby measures only 10” from tip to toe and weighs less than one pound, if she was born today, it’s very possible she would survive.

Recently Birgitta and I were studying an anatomy book, marveling at the variety and number of organs that have been squeezed into each one of our mid-sections. In the unborn, all the same systems are in place in them as in us, except they’re still in miniature. How everything can work out as well as it does, as often as it does, is a wonder. This baby is basically “done” even though Birgitta is only at the half way point in her pregnancy. Now all her tiny daughter has to do is grow.

*          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *

This reminds me of the new birth we find in salvation. As we come into God’s family by way of recognizing our need for a Savior (whose name is Jesus), all the necessary parts of our new life in Christ have been put into place. Beyond that, all we have to do is grow. It’s as much of a miracle as Birgitta’s baby is.

There’s just one big difference. It takes 9 months to make a baby. Getting saved is much quicker:

“HE WALKS IN. WE GET WELL.”

“I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in.” (Revelation 3:20)

Effective Communication

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When I was growing up, the thought of communicating with someone in another room was done only one way: by shouting. Cell phones were non-existent, and even walkie-talkies were unavailable. That’s why it was exciting to put empty soup cans at both ends of a long string and talk into the cans. Two rooms away someone could actually hear you. Childhood pals sometimes strung a line between their two homes, cleverly talking well past bedtime.

Another pre-cell-phone way to stay connected with friends was epitomized on TV in a series called “The Goldbergs,” aired in the 1950’s. Molly Goldberg would lean our her apartment window and holler to her neighbor, “Yoo hoo!” and the two would converse across the corner of their building.

Cell phones have eliminated the need for such creative communication, but last week my next-door-neighbor and I harkened back to the old ways. Linda knew Birgitta was going to learn the gender of her unborn baby on Thursday. “Maybe you could put a piece of pink or blue paper in your kitchen window. We’ll look out our bathroom window and discover the news.”

And so after Birgitta opened her tell-tale cookie and realized she was having a girl, we hung a pink paper in the window. When Linda saw it, she taped up a response: a baby picture with a pink bow in her hair.

So who needs cell phones?

Something about this primitive but festive way of communicating was very satisfying. It was creative, free, and lots more fun than calling Linda on the phone. In a way, it reminded me of the creative ways God communicates with us.

Sometimes he makes the words of the Bible leap off the page with personal meaning. At other times he speaks through the mouth of a friend or pastor. Then there are our thoughts, which he can shape to lead us to him. Even a potent dream can be used in special ways to influence us for his purposes. Books can also alert us to his messages, and experiences in nature can prompt us to worship him.

Our part is to be sure we’re listening and watching for whatever it is he wants to say. If Linda and I hadn’t remembered to look out our windows, we would’ve missed the happy messages. In the same way, if we race through our days without thinking of what God might be telling us, we could easily miss out.

It’s good to know he’s consistently trying to get through to us and won’t give up trying. And because there’s no end to his creativity, you never know how he might choose to get through. If you pick up a soup can and listen carefully, who knows what you might hear.

“Faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.” (Romans 10:17)