Life's Little Miracles

We’ve been doing something with the grandboys that’s beginning to pay off.  Every Wednesday evening, I try to cook a meal for them, which gives us an excuse to sit together around the table. 

As we’re finishing up, Gigi (Tony’s grandpa name) tells them a story about our past.  I know it’s egotistical, but we all enjoy remembering and getting some mileage out of our adventures and mistakes.  Any of you out there that remember Tony's dad, "Uncle Buddy" will know that Tony comes from a line of storytellers. It reminds me of a verse I just read in the Old Testament, one of God’s instructions to the Israelites:

“And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.” ( Deuteronomy 6: 6-8 KJV)

So last night, they had a friend at dinner and all three boys were saying “Gigi!  Tell him about the ……….!” and they’d rattle off something we’d forgotten that we even told them. As goofy as they can be, it showed that they were ‘remembering’.

This morning, I was thinking about something and ‘remembered’ how Tony loves to preach and has been doing it all his life.  Then I remembered a time when it was just a flat miracle, and even now we don’t understand how or why it happened.  Let me tell you about it.

It all started when Kumiko, a good friend in Japan died.  Tony and I were working in Bangkok at the time, but when we heard that she didn’t have long, we dropped everything and raced for Japan to be with her. We missed her passing by just a couple of hours, but the family was still in shock, not by her death but by the way she left this world. Waking up suddenly from a deep coma, she smiled and said, “Oh look! Shepherds!” then slipped peacefully into the arms of Jesus. 

Yep; lots of questions when we see her in Heaven.

Then, exactly one year later, we were invited again to the “one-year memorial service”. This is a strong tradition I Japanese culture.  

In fact, Tony was to be the speaker.  This is what I might call the 'real' service, because (I believe) after a year, people are really aware about how they feel about this whole thing.  At the funeral, we are all distracted with grief, even if it's happy as was this case, since Kumiko was a strong Christian.  Still, the feelings of loss and sadness haven't really had time to develop. So the memorial service is important.

As we drove to the church, Tony said something to me, and then just like that, he had NO VOICE!  He cleared his throat till he was hoarse, and then, since we were not yet late, we pulled into a pharmacy and dashed in.  The people immediately surmised the problem, but insisted on asking doctorish questions like how long had this been going on, etc.  Even though Tony was the only one who couldn't talk, we all started gesturing our panic and tapping our watches, getting more wild eyed and agitated. They finally gave him some cough syrup and we were on our way again.

We arrived to a completely-filled church and Tony dove for the deacons that were waiting for him.  Immediately they disappeared behind the pulpit into the anteroom and we all milled around wondering if we'd have a service or have to suffice with singing 'Kum Bah Ya" or something. Most of the people didn't know anything was wrong.    

But it was decided to trust God, as this service was dedicated to Him, so right on time, the men appeared from the back, the service was called together and within minutes, Tony stepped up to the pulpit.  The look on his face was a combination of abject fear and wonder.

He opened his mouth and we could hear just the faintest gasp.......'Mina"(meaning ‘everyone’ in English), ........... and then a second or two later again, a little louder, "Mina"..........and then as the entire audience held their collective breath, he continued louder, "Wa re wa re wa"........ and then with more conviction and much louder again, "Wa re wa re wa...."  and then in a TRUE MIRACLE he was off and running preaching a powerful sermon about the love we all have for God and His resurrection of our souls!  

Tony says, if nothing else, the experience was a reminder directly from God, something to the effect of, “Remember when you preach, it’s never about you. I brought you into this role, and I will be with you till I take you out of it.”

Isn't life interesting?  Little miracles.  Stay tuned and I'll tell you some more!!  

Marsha