Goodbye to the Green Giant

This week we said goodbye to the Green Giant.

The Green Giant is a 2003 Ford Expedition that served our family well for the past 12 1/2 years. It took over 100,000 miles worth of karate trips, and comfortably carried our family on numerous car trips to various places, such as Yellowstone, Galveston, Pennsylvania, and New York City. It has been hunting, fishing, and camping. It has pulled boats and trailers. It has towed cars. It has carried kayaks. It has been the source of many good memories. It was a reliable, faithful friend.

The Green Giant also kept us safe from a few bumps along the way. Such as when a sun glare made a red light look green. And when a deer ran out in front of us in the dark as we were driving 50 mph. All occupants were unscathed. And even at the end, when I was driving six children to a animal juggling show and pulled out in front of a car I could not see, all of the occupants in our car were uninjured. All things considered, that is a pretty honorable way for it to complete its service to our family.

My husband loved his Expedition. Even though he had 229,000 miles on it, he was planning to invest $1500 or more to rebuild the suspension. He would've driven it until it died. As it turns out, I'm the one who got to drive it to its end. Certainly that was not the way we had planned.

We are not the only one who loves our Expedition. This is evidenced by the extreme difficulty we have experienced when trying to find a gently used one. People simply don't want to give them up! We have come to learn that over the past 12 1/2 years the new price has nearly doubled. The market value for these vehicles is strong. Given how functional and reliable that vehicle was to us, this should not have been a surprise.

My husband has been gracious to me through all of this. Despite how much he loved his truck, he's encouraged with the knowledge that the contents of that vehicle have much greater value than the vehicle itself. And in the end the Green Giant fulfilled its duty to our family with honor and sacrifice.  We will miss the Green Giant, and will harbor fond memories of it all our days.

My Treasure

They cannot take what I have already laid down at Jesus' feet...."You Are My Treasure," by Matt Hammitt

Over the last month I have had two events that have cause me anxiety and angst.  One was a work-related item which is now settling down and I will not discuss it in this essay. The other was a car accident, which occurred this past weekend when I was driving with six precious children in our SUV.  Thankfully no one in my vehicle was injured, and the person in the other car had minor injuries. Yet these big life events can give us pause.  Will there be legal implications? Will there be an insurance settlement?  Might I be sued?  These are things that can keep us up at night if we don't put them into proper perspective.

My mind is drawn to the conclusion of TobyMac's song "Steal My Show:"  

My fame!

My feet!

My family, my career

Take it away

Take it away

It’s all yours now

So take it away

Take it away

It’s you I wanna live for

Are we ready to have faith like that?  My career is yours. My income is yours. My legal security is yours.  They cannot take what I have already laid down at Jesus' feet.  But what about my kids? Am I ready to lay them down for Jesus? Ouch!

As a new believer nearly 2 decades ago, I read Genesis 22 for the first time, where Abraham was tested to choose God over his son Isaac.  As in infertile couple back then, I really associated with the infertility journey between Sarah and Abraham. The idea of turning over a child seemed heart-wrenching, extreme, and foreign. Surely his faith must be stronger than mine!  Of course, in the end, Isaac was spared.  God's plan for good continued. But in that moment, what a difficult decision that must have been.

Once I am ready to lay everything down, then the anxiety will disappear. Once I trust God to be with me through all circumstances, then the worry will abate.

What about those precious six children, two of them my own, four of them my cherished nieces and nephew?  Am I ready to lay them down at Jesus' feet?  If you look up the inspiration for the song "You Are My Treasure" from Matt Hammitt, quoted at the beginning of this essay, you will learn that it was from him receiving dreadful news that his unborn son had severe congenital heart disease. He realized that he had to lay his unborn son at Jesus's feet. His son, named Bowen, is now five years old.  You can read more here...

http://bowensheart.com

God is good all of the time. He is working all things for our good. Even in those days where we mess up, total two cars, and send a woman to the hospital.  Even when we have six precious lives in our hands spinning in the middle of the intersection. Thank God they were all OK this time. I know they are yours.  It seems hard to give them to you, but I know that I am helpless to protect them without you. I need to lay them at your feet! 

But I also need to be reminded that YOU are my treasure.  The contents of my vehicle were worth more to me than anything I could ever own.  Yet they pale in comparison to to the treasure that awaits, that my brain cannot even begin to understand. I give my worry to you. I give my angst to you. Teach me what I need to learn from this.

Sure, there are practical things I have learned which help with life on Earth.  When I approach a major intersection while traveling on a secondary street, I will double and triple check before proceeding into the roadway, looking again midway if needed. I will be more aware of limited visibility caused by the anatomy of certain roadways. I will be more aware of peripheral field loss from the presence of a front seat passenger.  And if I ever plan to go to the Belcher Center again, I may take a different route!

But there are clearly much bigger things to learn from this experience.  May this memory not fully pass until the true lessons that need to be learned are understood.