“So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’” Matthew 6:31
It was just simpler back then. I got up one morning with a little (or maybe a lot) of coffee, a spot of the Weather Channel, and some Jesus. Then, I just sat and thought for a while. On the television was a channel from YouTube that shows live camera feeds from all over the Northeast, and I was just amazed how much it looked like Europe…another time and another place. Then, I thought about what lie ahead that day. I’m figuring out that each day is His day as He is the maker, the crafter of each one. I’m also learning that since He owns everything that makes me a steward of the next 24 hours and the events and circumstances He has planned.
Mainly, there was a sermon to polish for Sunday and a funeral to craft for Saturday. But mainly I was waiting to see what was on His mind and honestly, sometimes that is simple and sometimes it is complex. Regardless, I know it is His plan and it is one that He has determined that will bring good into my life and hopefully some glory to Him. With all that said, I have to admit there are times that I long for times when things were simpler as in less complex. While that has happened and surely will happen again, when I was about eight, it was the norm.
When I was eight, I was concerned about very little. Momma and Daddy were still healthy and every morning there was something for breakfast, something for lunch and something for supper. There were delicacies like fried potato sandwiches and peanut butter and mayonnaise sandwiches and if we were short on peanut butter we would just go with the mayonnaise. After breakfast though I would head out to the yard and just do…something. There were occasional chores like picking up the yard and pulling weeds but generally the day was mine. I hadn’t figured the God part out yet.
Because toys, at least the kind you buy at a store, were in short supply, I would go into the junk room—a small room with its own outside entrance and filled with stuff—and see what caught my eye. There was always something that, with a little imagination, could become a source of entertainment. First, and one of my favorites, was a piece of chain, usually about six feet long. You see, our driveway wasn’t paved, that was something rich people had, so it was like a giant sand box. I found out you could take that piece of chain and drag it behind you, and it became like a train. I would watch as the sand flowed in and around the links of the chain leaving a perfect track in the rear. A chain became a train—imagine that.
In certain times of the year, North Florida—well really the whole state, I guess—was inundated with “love bugs.” They were everywhere and would splat on windshields and clog radiators as cars zoomed down the highway. They also seemed to love a parked car. When I would go outside looking for that day’s adventure, they would be all over Daddy’s 1961, light blue, Plymouth station-wagon and whether they knew it or not—they were a target. I would search the yard and drawers in the kitchen for rubber bands discarded from newspapers, string them together and go hunting. Stretching them back, I would take aim and one by one pick them off of Daddy’s car. This could go on for a long while. I thought I was doing Daddy a favor but turns out the bug’s innards could eat a car’s paint right off. Oops.
While each day was different, each day was simple. Each day was consistent…little to worry about and an opportunity for fun. And while that kind of simplicity has long since passed there is another opportunity for today. Today too can be a day with little to worry about and dare I say it, an opportunity for fun. You see, if you are a Jesus follower, He really wants to take care of the worry part. In fact, He just flat-out tells us not to worry because if God can take care of the birds…He can take care of us too. How about that? And the fun part? Well, that is up to us. We simply need to learn, to remember, what that means and how to do it. My wife Judy tells me frequently that we need to learn how to celebrate, and she is right, but we also need to relearn how to just have fun. It probably involves letting go and letting Him so our hands and hearts will be free to be free.
So, what are you worrying about today? What has you bound up like a too tight pair of shoes? What are you going to do today that is fun? Now don’t tell me you don’t have time (that is simply a matter of choice) or the money—chain and rubber bands are cheap—smile. Today, be brave enough to do something different—to make a change. Let it go and let Him. He’s got this. Bro. Dewayne
Grits with Grace 