This may seem disconnected at first but I have had a lot of things swirling through my head this week and as I was driving home from a lovely tea this afternoon it all seemed to gel. A little background. This week I got back from visiting my grandfather in Wisconsin. During that time we talked about legacies and about his legacy to his children and grandchildren and now his great grandchildren. Later this week I had quite the adventure getting home. I will tell you more about that in a few moments and finally today we had two baby blessings. During which the pastor admonished them to not just ask for God's blessings but to actively pursue ways to order our lives to show God's workings to our children and how to live life for God for our children to see. Now all of this came to together to bring these thoughts.
Our legacy to our children involves teaching them how to see the world. I thought of glasses and the phrase rose colored glasses. But everyone wears glasses those glasses effect how we see the world. For some those glasses may say win at all costs or eat drink and be merry because tomorrow you may die or life is futile so why bother. But we have another option we can say in this life. We may have trouble and we may fail but if we believe that despite our failings Jesus loves us and will forgive us there is hope. With these glasses lifes little troubles don't seem so important and the big ones can be endured. I can say I have seen this modeled for me and they have given me these glasses to wear. This is not to say I blindly wear these glasses because I know no other but when I searched I found these glasses true. I saw it modeled in grandmother who had an incurable disease. She could have said God you are unjust but instead she said I will rejoice in the fact that I have lived longer than the doctor said. I see it in an Aunt who daily deals with pain and yet can say I love Jesus and I will do the best with what I have. I see it in a father and mother who said I want you to know the Lord and I will take where you need to go to hear it even if it means long road trips and plane tickets. Parents that said I am scared to let you go half way around the world by yourself but God can use you. I see it in a grandfather that at the age 81 says the Lord can use me yet...at a camp for Jr. highers and teaching a Sabbath School class and supporting a wife with Alzheimer's. These are the glasses I choose to wear; ones that say trouble is here but with God I will make lemonade.
Which brings me to my trip home, I will not say that I enjoyed the trip home or that I was not tired and just wanted to be home but I am grateful. My son and I were on our way home from a wonderful visit with my grandpa and we made it to Detroit without incidence but it is at this point our adventure began. I should also note that Mom had had breakfast with some of the church ladies and ask them to pray for me. We loaded on our flight to State College and were all set to go. We even deiced and we were sent back to the terminal. At this point we were told that the flight was canceled due to a completely iced runway in State College with it not looking like it would clear anytime soon. So off to the reschedule line Aaron and I go and low and behold we have already been booked on the late flight to State College even though it is overbooked. (Not everyone was so lucky) So Aaron and I enjoy an evening in the airport and when it gets to the time for the flight they are still overbooked and no one can pick me up in State College because of weather, so Aaron and I agree to take a bump. (For the non flyers among you cancellations overbooking and missed flights due to acts of God i.e. rain ice snowstorms are not the airlines problem so you get a voucher for a hotel discount and hope there is a room otherwise you are sleeping in the airport). Because of this bump I had a guaranteed room which by the way was the last when I got to the hotel, they gave me food vouchers and extra ones to feed Aaron and a voucher for another flight at a later date. Talk about lemonade. Oh yeah I also "happened" to throw in pajamas and a change clothes for Aaron in his diaper bag. Yes I lost my luggage but we had clothes for Aaron and it was delivered to our door. The next day I decided to try to get home a little sooner. The only seats left to State College were at 9:00PM. So I jumped on the plane to Latrobe. Perry was going to meet me - everything is great. Wrong... The airplane had mechanical problems and I eventually got home by flying to Pittsburgh and Perry meeting us there. During this period mom had called up the ladies and said keep praying and they did. No my flight and trip home was not without troubles but did work things to His good. I had a room for the night, a mostly happy boy, that voucher may end up helping to pay for a ticket to pickup Andrew, my luggage made it home and we made it home safely. It may not have been in my timing but it was perfect in God's. I believe that God made lemonade and that the prayers of the ladies made a difference. They could have given up and said God didn't answer our prayers but they didn't and I am blessed as a result.
I will note to those reading this I am generally an optimist and so maybe it is easier for me to see hope but I do think that the glasses I have learned to wear are a result of a legacy of faithful people around me some named but many unnamed. Thank you for teaching me to make lemonade.
This is one of the palaces. One of the coolest thing, about this is the heating system. They put fires under the buildings and it heats the floor and the smoke goes outside the building. I thought very cool.
