Yesterday did not go as planned.
Most of you know my relationship with my Jeep has been one of ups and downs. I knew it was on the way out. Coupling that with the expansion of my family in five months, as well as my monstrous commute each day, I decided it was time to trade in the Jeep for something a little more family- and fuel-friendly. Yesterday was that day. I picked up a friend at 9:30 and we began our journey towards Silver Spring; however, my Jeep wasn’t going without one final act of defiance. As we were approaching Bowie on Route 50, my engine was getting louder and louder until it sounded like a few pieces flew off and it simply shut off. Coasting to the shoulder, we called a tow truck. An hour and a half later, we were in the tow truck on our way to Lanham, the closest dealership that we were around.
A few test drives, quotes, and hours later, I settled on a 2009 Corolla. Because my Jeep was not in running condition, suffice it to say the trade-in value was greatly diminished – so much so that I decided not to trade it in. As I was cleaning out my Jeep and placing everything in my new car, I picked up this quarter-sized white stone that has been sitting in my Jeep since the summer. Given the events of the day, it made me smile. Why?
Last summer, as my senior and youth pastors were preparing a series on Judges, the latter did an introductory message from Joshua 24. The Israelites finally made it into the land that God has promised to them, and many of them could look back on the past 40 years wandering in the wilderness, and the eldest among them could remember God bringing them out from the land of Egypt. One of Joshua’s final recorded acts was to take a large stone and place it under an oak tree by the Lord’s sanctuary to remind Israel, among other things, the marvelous things that God had brought them through (vv. 26-27). The Israelites could pass the stone and remember God’s provisions, as well as their promise that they would serve God first.
As a final closing illustration, my youth pastor gave everyone in the congregation a little white stone (coming up with 400+ large rocks proved difficult, I suppose). Ever since that day, it has [purposefully] sat in my Jeep to remind me of all that God has brought me through and His gracious faithfulness to me. Removing it from the Jeep (which was far more trouble than it was worth) and placing it into my Corolla (which will hopefully treat me better), my conviction that everything happens for a specific reason – i.e., my true good (Phil 4:19) – was renewed. In its new home, that stone now holds even more memories of God’s goodness towards me:
- the faithfulness of a close friend who gave up a day to help me out and keep my stress levels down
- the faithfulness of God to provide the means to purchase a new car
- the blessing of another close friend and a few other gentlemen from WBC who helped me load my Jeep onto a tow dolly to get it off the dealership lot
I look forward to the other things that the little stone will witness, such as road trips to Lynchburg, Ohio, Raystown, and Wildwood Crest, or taking my kids to see their grandparents, uncles, and aunts in Pennsylvania. Even now, when I look in my rear view mirror, I can “see” my baby in their car seat in the back. If I’m really daydreaming, I’ll see a baby AND a toddler back there. (Of course, they have dark hair like their mother, and they sing with a tone only rivaled by Martina McBride and David Phelps). When the day comes when two kids become three, or four (or…), and we enter into minivan territory, that little stone is coming with me. And even when my sinful little offspring are screaming and fighting, I’ll look at that little white stone and smile (if only on the inside), recalling all the blessings God has given me, and His ongoing faithfulness in my life. All I know is I certainly don’t deserve it. And sometimes, the greatest blessings are the ones that we don’t expect, or could ever plan.
Awaiting That Day 