All the Ingredients for a Heartwarming Story
For the past few weeks, we’ve been dealing with the challenge and uncertainty that comes with having a vehicle stolen. Looking around at the many people around us dealing with bigger and more challenging issues like loss/grief, health issues, etc. has really helped us keep things in perspective. There is a lot about the situation that is uncomfortable and challenging — the inconvenience of only having one vehicle, the time required to deal with the situation (police investigation, insurance claim, shopping for a vehicle, coordinating transportation), the added expense of purchasing another vehicle, and the stress to our budget during the month of December (our daughter’s birthday, Christmas, and additional giving commitments).
Yesterday was probably the hardest day of all for me to stay positive and to trust that God is doing good in all of this. Earlier in the week I had taken a day off of work so that dad and I could make a special trip to Columbia, SC to shop for a vehicle at the Carmax wholesale auction lot. And we had found a vehicle that I let myself get excited about purchasing. But late yesterday, we find out that the vehicle had a slipping transmission that would have required significant time and money for repairs. So while I’m very glad that we found this out before buying the vehicle — it also crushed the images I already had already played out in my head about this vehicle. So I was disappointed — both that the expectation I had set in my mind was not going to be met, and the realization that I now had to start shopping all over again.
Hopefully, we will hear back from our insurance company this weekend on what they are offering to cover my stolen truck. Hopefully it will be fair and reasonable — that’s the expectation that I’ve set in my mind. But that imagination could be crushed if whatever they offer isn’t in line with the research we’ve done ourselves. And we may set our eyes on another vehicle that we become interested in and get let down again. Just because we worship Jesus and we try to make reasonable decisions doesn’t mean that life will not throw us some curve balls with regards to “what we want” versus what reality presents us.
I have to remember that I didn’t expect to have any insurance coverage at all, but that the Lord had blessed my wife with a wise advisor in our insurance agent who had convinced her to carry additional coverage that I would have declined. I have to remember that we have multiple friends who have showed us the power of God’s love and faithfulness by offering to help us out while we are down to one vehicle. I have to remember that we’ve received what we’ve needed just in time to keep us afloat this month. I have to remember that much of the inconvenience caused by this situation is humbling us about just how blessed we truly are. I have to remember that a certain vehicle or expectation that I’ve set in my head is not an idol that I can put ahead of my trusting in God.
I’ve had so many people share with me how they have been encouraged by how we are dealing with this situation. And like a fool, I had overlooked that extremely valuable point.
Yesterday, I watched a Chevy Christmas commercial about a grandma with dementia. I wept and hurt deeply for at least 20 or 30 minutes after watching it — but it was so positive and moving that I had to share it. Then I commented to my friends and shared it with them, mentioning how I miss those heartwarming Christmas commercials that more companies used to put out.
Later on, I watched commentary about Ted Talks where the person speaking became emotional because of how personal and real the subject was to them — and how it impacted their audience in a positive way. Maybe this challenge is “my Christmas commercial” — being transparent and honest about how it is hard at times to stay positive, yet we still have a reason to hold out hope. I’m not here to manipulate your emotions so you might buy something, or visit my page, or build my followers. But I’ve found in Jesus someone worth worshipping even in the midst of the storms of my life — ESPECIALLY in those challenging times.
This Christmas, I hope we will get to spend time talking about the awesome wonders of God — like I got to do at our company Christmas party this week, like I get to share with friends through these posts, like we share daily with those we love life alongside. I hope that we’ll remember the hope, the joy and the celebration that this season is really about — and we’ll see past the distractions of any presents under the tree or in the driveway– to see the greatest gift we’ve ever received, a baby Jesus in a manger. Amen.
What is your heartwarming story this Christmas? Please share it!
Colossians 3:12-17 ESV
[12] Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, [13] bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. [14] And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. [15] And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. [16] Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. [17] And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
Harold J. Ballinger 