Not Yet ... Not Ever

I don’t remember a time when ‘home’ looked as good as it did a few days ago.  Maybe it was the 29 hr ‘cheap’ flight I’d found that took us from Hawaii thru Japan before we got home to Australia, I don’t know.  

Last year, we made a 4-month doin’ our thang journey, which resulted in the decision that next time we’d pull it back a notch or two.  So when it came time to gear up for this year’s discipleship workshop in Hawaii, we managed to hone it down to 40 days, squeezing in a cruise, seven flights, two car rentals, and in a bold austerity move, made use of Honolulu’s trolley system in order to get around town (with only a few cries for help to our local friends who have a car. 

Now we’re thinking we may go back to the 4-month idea, with scheduled times to stop and smell the pineapple and macadamia nuts. 

I have to admit this trip was hard in some ways. Tony broke his little toe and then he got food poisoning.  Then I took that swan dive on the mountain that I mentioned last week and am still walking around pretty sore.  There were times (like when trying to take a deep breath) when I couldn’t help but wonder if Satan had a part in this. Surely our feeble attempts at ministry weren’t enough to merit this kind of demonic humbug? 

But no, I decided, I’m not going to flatter myself or Satan by making too big a deal out of our ouchies. I’ve decided this is nothing more than senior missteps and poor food choices. And besides, if I’m going to give this a spiritual interpretation, then where is God in the formula?

That brought up a memory of something that happened many years ago while I was riding in the car with my family. Some big decision was on the horizon, and we had prayed about it, but I was still struggling. 

“Well,” I said, “God’s never let us down yet, I don’t know why He would now!”

Before Tony could comment, a teenage snarl came from the back seat. (Who knew Nathan was even listening?), “Mom! …….. what do you mean by ‘yet’?”

I had to give pause. What DID I mean?

I came to realise, maybe deep down, that I had been unconsciously ‘waiting’ for that very thing ……. That time when God would let me down, and I could finally cry out, “See??? I KNEW that would happen.” 

Well, I’m a lot older now, and I hope maybe just a bit wiser. I can say with more confidence than ever that God has never let me down … not back then and certainly not now. He never abandoned us even in the dark times; never left us feeling afraid.  And on this latest endeavour, He let us once again do what we love to do, and brought us home safely. 

Several times on this trip, Tony and I sang together that popular chorus, “All my life You have been faithful; all my life You have been so, so good!”

Sing it with me, will you?

If you’ll stick with me, I promise to unpack, settle down and write about something more interesting than our galavanting …….. stay tuned! 

Marsha


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