Pursuits That Last

Sometimes we find ourselves in really unexpected places doing unexpected things and yielding results we never dreamed of. I think powerful lessons come from those times that are worth remembering.

Nearly 3 years ago, I found myself driving along a road that I travel often. It was one of those really odd winter days in my neck of the woods, that was actually fairly warm and incredibly windy! This particular stretch of road was lined with the little brick post war ranch style houses that are so common in many communities. And it's not unusual to find, at the end of the drive ways in front of these houses, some sort of pillar that bears a light or cement swan just to class up the place a little.  The kind of thing that someone erected a long time ago because they were proud of their little home.

As I made my way to my destination, I noticed a ways down the road what looked like a life sized Halloween statue set up next to a brick pillar at the end of one of the driveways.  I found that rather odd because it was a really weird time of year to find ANY kind of decorations out! Maybe the Christmas lights that hang all year round, but this was a big one that would surely have been put away by then. And the wind was really giving this decor a run for it's money. The statue was wearing a long white gown and had long scraggly white hair and it was all billowing straight out behind it. Other than registering the fact that it was a little strange, I didn't give it much more thought. Until I drove by it.

That's when I noticed that it wasn't a piece of decoration at all, but a VERY old lady standing next to this little brick pillar and hanging on for dear life in the wind! It's amazing how quickly things register in our brains. Like the fact that there was a guy working in his yard across the road that was completely ignoring this little old lady. 

Of course I couldn't keep going and just ignore her, so at the first opportunity I turned around and went back all the while hoping that she wouldn't blow away in the meantime! As I walked up to her, I noticed that she didn't look panicked or upset, she just had her face turned into the wind and was holding on to the pillar. I don't know how long she had been standing there, but I imagine she was pretty tired.

I asked her if there was something I could do to help her, and in her feeble little voice, she told me she was trying to fix her light. The wind was so strong that it had blown it over and it was laying on it's side on top of the pillar.

I stood quietly and watched her for a moment while she tried to repair her fallen lamp. The problem was easy to see, but it wasn't my light and she didn't even know me. The light was pretty old and cracked, but I didn't want to just walk in and take over. When I asked her if I could give it a try, she said "Sure" with a little wobble in her voice, and handed me her tools. They consisted of a rusty screw, a stick and a clothes pin. 

Of course my mind blew up. "I need to call the hubs and replace both of these lights for her. But what if her dear departed husband placed these here and merely suggesting that they be replaced would offend her! And how do I know my handsome half would even WANT to be drug into this situation!?!" And as I started to pray, the solution became obvious. I could indeed fix her lamp with just the tools she handed me. It only took the screw placed on the correct side of the fixture to make the lamp stay upright in the wind, but she thought it was important that it be "reinforced" with the other implements, so that's what we did. The stick went behind the lamp, and the clothes pin was attached securely to the rusty screw. I made sure she got back into her house and went on my merry way. 

Most times when I go past that little house I think about her and look to see if our "fix" is holding firm.  It's been nearly 3 years and she's no longer living in that little house. A young family now inhabits the place, and I love to see the evidence of children in the yard. The stick has since disappeared, but the rusty screw and the clothes pin remain intact and the light has remained upright through rain, wind, snow and ice.

The lesson I carry with me is all about what can be done if we're just willing. I asked the Lord what to do, and He not only showed me, but provided seemingly completely inadequate tools to accomplish the job. It's in His hands that the work has lasting value. I can't wait to see how long our repairs hold!

Whatever you do,

do your work heartily 

as for the Lord, 

rather than men.

Colossians 3:23

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