Just A Thought

 The air was crisp with the promise of snow in the sleek open-air stadium. Eighty thousand fans had journeyed from all over the world, paying healthy sums to get the real-time experience of a Super Bowl. Team jerseys, number one foam hands, loaded chili dogs and cotton candy stirred nostalgia and jump-started the adrenalin in these devoted football lovers.

The much-anticipated kick-off put the offense at the 30 yard line. Twenty-two oversized professional athletes took their places, and the offense executed a play that had been rehearsed many times. The ball was snapped, the rookie quarterback fell back and began searching for an available receiver. This young man was the player everyone was counting on. He could hear the cheers and the pressure was intense. Suddenly one of the 300-pound tackles wedged between the center and the guard. An avalanche ensued. With no one open and nowhere to run, the quarterback tucked and braced for the impact and dogpile that was inevitable.

Then the unthinkable happened. After the whistle, when the players had untangled themselves, the quarterback called time out and headed for the sidelines. This, in itself, was an unusual move and immediately caused concern. However, what he did next was unprecedented. He jogged past his coaches and team-mates and found his mother in her front-row seat. Fans close by were shocked to see him lean in to her, with tears in his eyes, and blubber, “Mommy, I was just trying to throw the ball when a bunch of boys half again as big as me ganged up on me. Did you see that? It wasn’t fair. I think they bruised my legs. Why are people so mean? Will you go tell them to leave me alone?”

“Hang on a minute!” the reader might counter, “That would never happen. No one who made it to the big leagues would be that sensitive and wimpy. That would end their career!” 

To which the author would quickly concede. That is a preposterous story, and it would be unlikely to take place at a Super Bowl. But how often do we find ourselves whining to a friend or family member about our challenges and misfortunes? Why is it that everyone expects quarterbacks to buck up and deal with his challenges while we lament our own setbacks and difficulties. If work is not easy, when people at church are not sensitive to our needs, or when neighbors are not kind, it is easy to slip into the victim mindset and join the chorus of people who croon about the world being unfair and about God making life so hard.

The only way to deal with life is to get back on the field and face it with hope, knowing not every play will be in our favor. If we keep that in mind when we will undoubtedly suffer our fair share of loss, encounter opposition and have setbacks, we may have the courage to stay in the game long enough to see the tide change. Life happens. Our moms hope we grow up and learn to handle it one play at a time. 

# posted by John W. Hanson @ Monday, October 09, 2023

I can’t count the number of times I stood in the rubble of my half-finished renovation, discouraged at what my latest gut-job was revealing. It had always been a dream of mine to remodel an old house. Now I had that opportunity. I was remodeling a house built around 1790; it was a project that would last eight years. 

In one of the early phases of that remodel we began removing the sagging lathe and plaster on the walls and low ceiling, just inside our front door. My goal was to spruce things up a bit, but as we uncovered the studs we found termite damage, proof of “innovative building practices” and a lot of mouse skeletons. We also found evidence that the main staircase had been moved, and that part of the second story had been reconfigured in a way that made a portion of the upstairs space unusable. 

It was discouraging. I felt like I might be biting off more than I could chew. At times I regretted tackling the project. Everything seemed to turn out to be more complicated or difficult than expected. The bones of the house were petrified, the electrical system antiquated, and the heating and air conditioning insufficient. The house had been used for many purposes and reconfigured many times. It didn’t flow like we needed it to flow, and our budget was limited. Since I had purchased the house as a result of following God to a new assignment, I even questioned whether I had made the right choice. I reasoned that if I was following God, He would be helping me out a little more than He seemed to be helping.

But we pushed forward. We “made do.” We were forced to become more creative and resourceful. We prayed a lot. We worked long hours. We problem-solved and self-talked ourselves into believing for better days. Then, little by little, we made progress. Things actually began working out better than expected.

For example, we decided to remove part of the second floor near the front door and relocate the stairs to their original place. That combination allowed us to create a grand entry and a balcony at the top of the stairs. We were also able to expose the original, hand-hewn, peg-secured, beams. The end result was stunning compared to the original. We ended up with something much nicer than we had set out to create. 

So, we began with a plan… that turned into a bigger problem that we expected… which caused us to seek creative solutions… which resulted in a something better than we had planned. It was an opportunity hidden in difficulty. If we had not persevered when we encountered problems, we would have never enjoyed the better home. People of faith persevere, believing that God will help them work through their difficulties. And they believe that often the end result will be even better than they imagined. 

# posted by John W. Hanson @ Friday, October 06, 2023