Old Buildings...new hope...

         So, I get to drive around a lot and I love to look at old buildings, particularly out in the country. As I drive by I think about who might have built it. I wonder what it was like when it was new. I imagine a young family, excited to begin a life together in their new house. I envision the proud owner of the new hotel opening up for business near the thriving train station. And then I look at the old worn out building and wonder what happened. What happened to the hopes and dreams, what happened to the people?

         I have started thinking about people the same way lately. When I see an old man sitting under a bridge in the cold, or a young woman walking down the street at night, or a child looking through the garbage for a meal, or just a guy, worn out by life, I wonder about them. Certainly they are some mother’s son, some father’s daughter. Could they be someone’s brother or sister? Do they have their own sons or daughters, or grandchildren?

         What happened to their hopes and dreams?

         Unlike buildings, people cannot be boarded up or torn down. People are made in the image of God. People in the most horrible circumstances still have hopes and dreams. People in desperate circumstances desperately need to be restored to life through infinite grace, love, and mercy.  And I am pretty sure that is one of the reasons we are here….

Little Mirrors

   So, I am pretty much convinced God gives us children to be little mirrors. 

  I bought my youngest son a little RC helicopter to replace the one I had broken on the inaugural flight...two years ago. We had had a couple of rough days an I figured this would help make a good peace offering. My ulterior motive was that I was going to let him do it all on his own and only help him if he asked for it, nicely. I hoped he would see that he does need help occasionally and his pride was keeping him from enjoying life. I could probably stop at this point and you could fill in the rest.

   Off he went, very happy and excited, to try out his new toy. I encouraged him to make sure he read the directions. Five minutes later he is back, the helicopter is on the roof. (Sweet, here comes teaching time!) I showed him how to climb out his window and onto the roof and the world was right again. I once again reminded him to make sure he read the directions. 

  This time it went on the roof again but he was able to get it down without help. I guess he learned something, not the lesson I had hoped for but the day was young. I asked him if he had read the directions and he had not, yet. 

  Five minutes later he was back inside and the helicopter would not fly. The battery was dead. "I thought it would go for 5 or 6 hours, not 5 minutes!" His expectations ran smack into reality and physics, his expectations lost, and he was very, very, very, very disappointed. 

   And the helicopter would not charge. A double whammy. Not only were his dreams of flying his toy helicopter up high enough to "almost run into another real helicopter" crushed, but the reliability of the little toy was suspect since it was clearly broken.  

  It was teaching time again. "Did you read the directions?"

 "No."

   "If you had read them you would have seen this warning against flying your helicopter outside. You would have also seen where the flight time was 5-6 minutes, and you would have seen how to fly it the first time so it doesn't crash and break.  Just read the directions. They will save you a ton of pain and heartache and disappointment. They will help you have realistic expectations. They will help you make good decisions. They will help you if you would just take the time to read them."

  And this is where the tiny mirror comes in...the child who is a little reflection of me.