We lived in California and my grandparents had come to visit. We had spent the morning down in San Francisco riding trolley cars and such. Lunch time rolls around and we end up at a hamburger joint.
I recall standing at the counter with my dad and grandma as we waited behind a man with a large man whom was now short dollars paying for his meal, so he was trying to determine what they would take off their order.
My dad stepped up and said, “Here let me pay what you are short.” The man graciously accepted and all seemed well until my grandmother began to explain to my dad that he really shouldn’t have done that. Couldn’t he see he had a family just as well and money was tight? I might add that it was only a couple dollars.
Now, my grandma meant well! She was just on a different faith walk than my parents.
I remember the subject being closed when dad said, “Mother, the Lord will provide.”
Eventually we made our way home, and grandma was the first to notice an envelope hanging on our door. Dad opened the envelope and found $75 and a note that read:
“I knew your family was coming to visit and thought this might help.”
The Lord proved himself once again!
My dad’s motto, “The Lord will provide” was not just lip service. He spoke it often and the Lord always provided!
© Jounda LaMance
I will never forget the trip! Traveling from the Midwest to California – the northern route, right through the mountains. A beautiful drive I'm sure, but when you were riding with my dad we often missed a lot of the beauty.
You see dad was always on a mission! The next service or the next revival is what drove him! Preaching was his life, and driving between services tended to be aggravating for him!
So here we are in the middle of a blizzard, pulling a trailer and four of us in a truck! I remember mom asking dad when he was going to stop and find a place to park the trailer for the night.
Her concerns were always the same, the babies are restless and we need to stop and eat! Dad, well he just wanted to get there - so this particular day turned into night and the storm grew worse. Dad had assumed he'd find a trailer park without any problem and they'd carry us into our beds after everything was all set up.
Of course this day was different. He drove past dark and right into a major storm! All parks were closed and the law was, you couldn't pull over at a rest stop and stay the night.
At some point mom convinced dad that he had to at least stop and feed my brother and I. So, he eventually found a restaurant.
If we ate I don't remember - I just remember hearing mom discuss the facts! Dad should have stopped earlier and we wouldn't be in this mess.
Then this man appeared from out of nowhere!
"I don't mean to be rude, but I couldn't help but overhear you are having difficulty. I have a small store down the road that you can park for the night. You just have to be gone by sun up so you don't get a ticket."
A miracle had just happened. First we had no place to go and it appeared dad would have to drive through the storm! Then a man appears from nowhere and offers us a place to park our trailer!
The story could've been just that and nothing more, but it doesn't end there! We followed him and parked where he told us to park. Then he hooked us up to electricity and gave dad a key to his store.
"Help yourself to anything you need and just leave the key under the mat in the morning."
Of course we didn't take a thing from out of the store, but we did leave the key under the mat!
I have a picture of my brother and I standing in front of Pike's Peak where we stayed that night! It's a pretty dorky picture (only because of the way my mom dressed my brother <wink>), but regardless, every time I look at the picture I am reminded of a man that was sent to rescue us that night.
It wasn't until years later that I understood the implications of dad driving through that storm and the intense love and mercy God had for our family. He protected us that night as He did so many times before and since.
The man's kindness and generosity has been an example for me through the years! I don't know his name, but I know that night he was sent by God and I have never forgotten!
So, what do you do on the fourth of July when you live in the desert and town shuts down at 5:00 PM? Last night the girls and I debated on going into town and looking for a firework display! There is something about hearing the booms and seeing the display of colors that takes me back to gentler days! Fond memories reappear for a moment of sitting with my family under the Gateway Arch and watching a magnificent display! This year seemed to have a greater meaning than any before! You see last 4th of July Dara and I were separated from India! She was wandering the streets, alone and addicted to Crystal Meth! There were choices that had to be made, and for that space in time she’d made hers and we made ours. This year was different! Yesterday India was 47 days clean and stronger! She is working through, moment-by-moment, being clean and sober! So, we were together as a family, celebrating NEW LIFE! Celebrating freedom from a substance that had once controlled every fiber of her being! We decided to just stay home and enjoy being together and hope that maybe we would see a display of fireworks in the sky! Fortunately, the display going on in town could be seen! Although we couldn’t here the booms and crashes or the oohs and ahhhs – we were still able to see a brilliant color display! Then we noticed something far greater! The northern sky began to light up with lightening! The mountain range was highlighted in a dramatic display of heavenly wonder! It wasn’t small single bolts of lightening, it was vast arrays of brilliant orange and yellow and red! Mt. Taylor seemed to dance under the flashes of color! Then we heard it! The crash and the boom! God sent thunder to accent the color display! It was in perfect rhythm! The lightening and the thunder were in harmony and the mountains danced beneath the glory of it all! You have to know, I am one that cries at the grand finale, and I didn’t miss an opportunity to weep once more at God’s marvelous love and power! The rain that was falling didn’t hinder our enjoyment! There was a renewing taking place! We stood as a family, as we have done so many times before, and watched in one corner of the world, man’s attempt to awe the crowd, and in the other corner, God’s ability to fill the northern sky with colors, lights, booms and crashes that cannot compare to our feeble attempt to recreate a masterpiece! Suspended for a moment, in the middle of a desert, we basked in the healing presence of God! Psalms 29 Bravo, God, bravo! Gods and all angels shout, "Encore!" In awe before the glory, in awe before God's visible power. Stand at attention! Dress your best to honor him! God thunders across the waters, Brilliant, his voice and his face, streaming brightness— God, across the flood waters. God's thunder tympanic, God's thunder symphonic. God's thunder smashes cedars, God topples the northern cedars. The mountain ranges skip like spring colts, The high ridges jump like wild kid goats. God's thunder spits fire. God thunders, the wilderness quakes; He makes the desert of Kadesh shake. God's thunder sets the oak trees dancing A wild dance, whirling; the pelting rain strips their branches. We fall to our knees—we call out, "Glory!" Above the floodwaters is God's throne from which his power flows, from which he rules the world. God makes his people strong. God gives his people peace. © Jounda LaMance July 5, 2006
So, what do you do on the fourth of July when you live in the desert and town shuts down at 5:00 PM?
Last night the girls and I debated on going into town and looking for a firework display! There is something about hearing the booms and seeing the display of colors that takes me back to gentler days! Fond memories reappear for a moment of sitting with my family under the Gateway Arch and watching a magnificent display!
This year seemed to have a greater meaning than any before!
You see last 4th of July Dara and I were separated from India! She was wandering the streets, alone and addicted to Crystal Meth! There were choices that had to be made, and for that space in time she’d made hers and we made ours.
This year was different! Yesterday India was 47 days clean and stronger! She is working through, moment-by-moment, being clean and sober! So, we were together as a family, celebrating NEW LIFE! Celebrating freedom from a substance that had once controlled every fiber of her being!
We decided to just stay home and enjoy being together and hope that maybe we would see a display of fireworks in the sky!
Fortunately, the display going on in town could be seen! Although we couldn’t here the booms and crashes or the oohs and ahhhs – we were still able to see a brilliant color display! Then we noticed something far greater!
The northern sky began to light up with lightening! The mountain range was highlighted in a dramatic display of heavenly wonder! It wasn’t small single bolts of lightening, it was vast arrays of brilliant orange and yellow and red! Mt. Taylor seemed to dance under the flashes of color!
Then we heard it! The crash and the boom! God sent thunder to accent the color display! It was in perfect rhythm! The lightening and the thunder were in harmony and the mountains danced beneath the glory of it all!
You have to know, I am one that cries at the grand finale, and I didn’t miss an opportunity to weep once more at God’s marvelous love and power! The rain that was falling didn’t hinder our enjoyment! There was a renewing taking place! We stood as a family, as we have done so many times before, and watched in one corner of the world, man’s attempt to awe the crowd, and in the other corner, God’s ability to fill the northern sky with colors, lights, booms and crashes that cannot compare to our feeble attempt to recreate a masterpiece!
Suspended for a moment, in the middle of a desert, we basked in the healing presence of God!
Psalms 29
Bravo, God, bravo! Gods and all angels shout, "Encore!" In awe before the glory, in awe before God's visible power. Stand at attention! Dress your best to honor him! God thunders across the waters, Brilliant, his voice and his face, streaming brightness— God, across the flood waters. God's thunder tympanic, God's thunder symphonic. God's thunder smashes cedars, God topples the northern cedars. The mountain ranges skip like spring colts, The high ridges jump like wild kid goats. God's thunder spits fire. God thunders, the wilderness quakes; He makes the desert of Kadesh shake. God's thunder sets the oak trees dancing A wild dance, whirling; the pelting rain strips their branches. We fall to our knees—we call out, "Glory!" Above the floodwaters is God's throne from which his power flows, from which he rules the world. God makes his people strong. God gives his people peace.
© Jounda LaMance July 5, 2006
