My husband and I woke up Sunday morning July 4th 2010 to a message on our answering machine from our son Caleb, who happened to call us during the early morning hours of 1:24 am EST from Chicago where both boys are working a summer job. He told us that they went to see fireworks with 3 others and on their way back to John's car they saw someone breaking into it and saw the guy run away as they got closer to the vehicle! He then tried to offer reassurance by adding they called the police and they were waiting for them to show up and they were safe. Tom and I looked at each other in bewilderment as we tried to process what we had just heard.
As we waited with anticipation to speak to them on the phone for the full story all kinds of thoughts
went through our minds of the possible other outcomes that could have happened to bring physical harm. Finally I was able to get a full account of the incident. The assailant was not just satisfied with breaking in to steal valuables he wanted to vandalize the car. The passenger front window had been smashed out and the rear passenger door had a crowbar used on it causing extensive damage (see photo). The trunk had a crowbar attempt as well but this was minimal damage. Apparently nothing was stolen. Not having comprehensive coverage on the boys cars we could do nothing but trust God to provide for our current need and praise Him for protecting those kids! Several days after the event John made several calls to a glass company to repair the broken window. While I surfed the internet to locate auto salvage yards for a replacement car door. God provided a
wonderful gentleman to replace the glass and lead me to a salvage yard that had an exact match of a door for John's car. With the help of the glass repair man giving John a short lesson in how to replace a car door John was able to fix the door himself (see photo)!
There are still scratches and dents on the car but the major repairs were completed for a total of $275! Through a scary difficult situation God taught each of us lessons to apply to our faith.
As a child I remember the Sunday school lesson of the man who built his house and laid his foundation on a rock, and the man who built his house on the ground without a foundation, Luke 6:47-49, and how the house with the foundation was left standing after the flood came. Watching my kids go through life storms brings a different perspective to this story. We have all walked away from this feeling more grounded in God. It is vital while the kids are home to lay a foundation and ground them in their faith in God. Just like grounding an electrical wire helps to prevent or absorb dangerous voltage so spiritual grounding helps to protect from the devil's schemes.
I picture our experience with raising our boys as that of constructing a ship (God being the designer, Tom and I being the construction workers). An important part of the ship is it's hull, the foundation. It's the part that takes the brunt of the pounding waves. The shape of the hull is entirely dependent upon the needs of the design (and who knows us better than our designer God Himself).
As the newly built ship gets ready to embark out on the open waters, we the parents are holding the champagne bottle ready to perform the ceremonial commissioning in celebration of this momentous occasion. While it's exciting to see your special ship successfully pull away from the harbor you know the further out to sea it goes there will be many storms to face that will challenge it's structure.
When our two "ships" hit troubled water they radio back to Tom and I, and while we can help to guide them from a distance, these boys have to do the actual work to maneuver through and around the rough seas. Use the parenting time you have to focus on the foundation. No matter how calm the horizon looks right now the storms will come.
Our prayer for our boys, Ephesians 3:16-19:
"I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge-that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God".
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