Reality Check
Have you ever had this happen?...
Your husband is late and you can't get hold of him on his cell phone, no one knows where he is, and all of a sudden it dawns on you. He's been in an accident. The worst ever. He's gone. What was the last thing you said to him? What are you going to do without him? How on earth will you raise your child alone? Etc etc etc. until you are all in a panic, and then your husband comes waltzing in the door. Oh. Never mind, everything's fine. You can't decide whether to be ecstatic he's home or furious that you couldn't reach him.
This scenario happened to me just today, except it wasn't Josh who was missing. I went over to work at Cellar Circle and dropped Noah off at Matt and Jen's house. When it came time to pick Noah up for lunch, I went back over there but it didn't look like anyone was home. The lights were off. No sign of movement inside. I knocked, rang the doorbell two times and no one came. I knew Jen had planned to take the kids to the library so I figured she was on her way back from there, so I called her cell phone. I got her voicemail. Left a message, rang the doorbell one more time, and headed back to the car to wait.
And I started to think. I don't know why, but my mind jumped to the worst case scenario. I was just certain that they'd been in an accident or some kind of bizarre shooting, and that Jen, Brianne, and Noah were all dead. I'd never have any more children, and what on earth was Matt going to do without his family? We've been studying Job in Bible study lately and now we were all thrust into Job's shoes. How long would I sit in the driveway before I went for help? Where would I go? Should I call Matt? The police? Maybe I should turn on the radio to see if any horrible accidents had been reported. Is that how I'd really want to find out anyway? This morning I had just told Noah to stop talking to me for a little while. Why did I say that? What's wrong with me? Oh, I would give anything to hear him talk to me now...
And then, just like that, the garage door opened. There was Jen's car in the garage. Oh.
Praise the Lord! It turns out they were all inside watching a video and never heard the doorbell.
I've decided that unrestrained thinking is a bad thing. On the way back to the car, the verse from Philippians 4 came to me:
"Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things. "
I felt a little silly, and a little rebuked too. Why didn't I think to pray?
The moral of the story is: Pray first, think second. :)
Your husband is late and you can't get hold of him on his cell phone, no one knows where he is, and all of a sudden it dawns on you. He's been in an accident. The worst ever. He's gone. What was the last thing you said to him? What are you going to do without him? How on earth will you raise your child alone? Etc etc etc. until you are all in a panic, and then your husband comes waltzing in the door. Oh. Never mind, everything's fine. You can't decide whether to be ecstatic he's home or furious that you couldn't reach him.
This scenario happened to me just today, except it wasn't Josh who was missing. I went over to work at Cellar Circle and dropped Noah off at Matt and Jen's house. When it came time to pick Noah up for lunch, I went back over there but it didn't look like anyone was home. The lights were off. No sign of movement inside. I knocked, rang the doorbell two times and no one came. I knew Jen had planned to take the kids to the library so I figured she was on her way back from there, so I called her cell phone. I got her voicemail. Left a message, rang the doorbell one more time, and headed back to the car to wait.
And I started to think. I don't know why, but my mind jumped to the worst case scenario. I was just certain that they'd been in an accident or some kind of bizarre shooting, and that Jen, Brianne, and Noah were all dead. I'd never have any more children, and what on earth was Matt going to do without his family? We've been studying Job in Bible study lately and now we were all thrust into Job's shoes. How long would I sit in the driveway before I went for help? Where would I go? Should I call Matt? The police? Maybe I should turn on the radio to see if any horrible accidents had been reported. Is that how I'd really want to find out anyway? This morning I had just told Noah to stop talking to me for a little while. Why did I say that? What's wrong with me? Oh, I would give anything to hear him talk to me now...
And then, just like that, the garage door opened. There was Jen's car in the garage. Oh.
Praise the Lord! It turns out they were all inside watching a video and never heard the doorbell.
I've decided that unrestrained thinking is a bad thing. On the way back to the car, the verse from Philippians 4 came to me:
"Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things. "
I felt a little silly, and a little rebuked too. Why didn't I think to pray?
The moral of the story is: Pray first, think second. :)
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