Hats Off to God

Many years ago, Tony bought a hat.

It was 1991, the year we spent in Colorado while our son Trevor was being treated for leukemia.

After several weeks sitting by his bedside, a friend came and 'kidnapped' Tony, taking him up to the mountains to go skiing. Tony protested, insisting that he couldn’t be away that long, and besides, what father would do something like that while his son suffered? 

He ended up going, and by evening, he told me that it probably saved his life. What a blessing, to step away from reality, if only for a few hours. Every time we see our friend (whose name is Mark), we thank him for the way God used him that day. 

At the ski lodge that day, Tony bought a hat, similar to what he used to wear all the time when he lived in Texas. He and Mark agreed that it was good to look back at those days once in awhile. 

Years passed. Many years. After eight months in hell, we said goodbye to Trevor, took his ashes back to Japan as per his wish, and tried to carry on with our lives. We adopted another child … not to replace our son; it was something we had been thinking about and working on long before.  

Then we transferred to Australia. We had never had a single thought about life “Down Under” before except that it was very far away and maybe there was something going on with kangaroos.  The decision came about when our mission asked us to go and check out the possibilities for ministries to Japanese there. The rest is history.

We moved to Sydney in July of 1998.  After finally settling in, Tony hung up his treasured hat in his office, not wearing it much but remembering a happy day with a friend. 

One day an Australian pastor walked in, spotted the hat and proclaimed, "How in the world did you get such a fine Akubra?” 

Tony had no idea what he meant, but followed the pastor’s eyes to the hat.  "Oh no,” he protested, “that's from Colorado. I think it might be a Stetson.”

"You're wrong mate," the pastor said, reaching up to pull it down. He showed Tony the hat liner where it said, "Akubra".

"Well slap my momma, you're right!" Tony exclaimed. The Texan in him was creeping out a bit

So that was the first coincidence.

The second surprise was almost 25 yrs later. Tony decided the hat was just collecting dust, so he gave it to his middle grandson, who at 15 was getting tall and strong and had always had his eyes on it.

We mentioned the story of the 'Accidental Akubra's' purchase, back in Colorado many, many years previously.  At that point, his mother, Kylie (our precious daughter-in-love), spoke up. 

"You know Akubra is THE NAME in Australian hats. And it just so happens that it comes from my hometown.”  

Now I mean no disrespect, but her hometown of Kempsey is so small, it’s the quintessential picture of a two-horse kind of place. But they do lay claim to the factory that makes Akubra hats, and have been doing so for the last 50 years. Look it up if you don’t believe me. 

Now it was time to drop our jaws yet again.  From the hometown of our grandson's mother, (who would have been about 11 when we bought it) to a random ski slope in Colorado, to a grieving father, and then back again, almost to its origin.  

I can’t help but remember our daughter Nicki’s life verse: Jeremiah 29:11. "I know the plans I have for you, not to destroy you but to give you a hope and a future.”

What else can I say?

Have a great week and remember, God's got the details.  

Marsha

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