Divine Fact Checking

I figure it’s never too late to start family traditions, so lately, we’ve begun cooking one meal a week together with three of our grandsons (and their parents of course). We’re finding that it’s a great time to connect with all the kids, in spite of their being so incredibly busy.

And to sweeten the kitty a bit, we close up the mealtime with a story from our upcoming book. We’re calling it, “Stop Me If You’ve Heard This”, and it’s a collection of ALL the stories we’ve ever told over the years. I recommend the exercise for everyone. It’s a great way to step back and see the tapestry that God has made of your lives, all woven together by stories.

Oh, and while I have your attention, that other book we told you about a couple of years ago is finally headed for the printer! The star of that one is our other grandboy, Jeremiah. "Letters to Schnicklefritz" is made up of 27 small chapters, each one representing a week of development in the womb. In the next few weeks it should be available on Amazon, and with an ISBN number, any bookstore in the world will be able to order a copy for you.

“Letters” has the added benefit of a really good Foreword written by none other than Paul Stookey. "Who's that?" you ask.  Of course if you’re as old as us, you don’t have to ask, but would know that he's the “Paul” of Peter, Paul and Mary.  He’s a dedicated Christian, writer and performer of The Wedding Song, which was a big part of wedding ceremonies in our generation. It would have been in ours, but it didn’t come out until the week after we got married in 1969.  

As it turns out, we’ve kept on and off contact with him over the years, especially through his spin off Christian band called "Bodyworks". Anyway, he was more than happy to give us permission to use the lyrics to a song he wrote called “All My Life”. Google it sometime; it’s a fantastic song about a girl contemplating having an abortion. After reading what Tony said about it in his book, Paul wrote, "Finally! Someone understands what the song was actually about!"  

Anyway, back to the story telling at dinner.

Last night Tony chose to tell them about the bowling alley that blew up when he was refinishing the 24 lanes with a highly flammable varnish. Some of you know the story, how an electrician had a key and came in, unannounced and uninformed, and when he flipped on the light switch, he sent a spark that ignited the building and burned it to the ground in about 10 minutes.Through an unbelievable miracle, the electrician, Tony and his boss were blown out of the closed and bolted doors to safety.  Tony had prayed just the night before, "God, if you're there, I’d appreciate knowing it, because right now, I don’t think You would care if I lived or died.” Unwise, untrue, and something you should never say to God. 

The boys listened with mouths agape, and then one picked up his Dad’s phone, asked a few pertinent details like the name of the bowling alley and the date, and within seconds he had pictures and news releases from 55 years ago!

Makes you believe in telling the truth when a preadolescent can 'fact check' what you say that easily!

The Bible tells us that God is omniscient. He knows EVERYTHING that's ever happened, ever. Before we think it, He remembers and can pull up our past to remind us of all the times He's been there for us, as well as knowing exactly the way He'll encourage us as we travel forward. 

Isn't that a wonderful comfort?  

Love ya,

Marsha

Oh LORD, you have searched me and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue, you know it completely, Oh LORD.               Psalms 139: 1-4