Front Seat Faith

This picture was unearthed from a junk drawer last week and left out on the top of my dresser. At first glance, it appears to be just a girl standing on a motel porch. To me, however this is a snap shot of a living testimony; a reminder of God’s proven faithfulness in my life. The day I found it, I was in desperate need of such a reminder.

      The girl in this picture is myself at age six, blissfully unaware of the grand faith adventure I was on. My father had been called to serve as a pastor in Anchorage, Alaska and our family had embarked upon the mother of all family road trips which began in East Texas and would take us 4,000 miles cross continent.

     Some of the things I remember about the trip are the overnight stays in “it’ll do” motels and falling asleep gazing at stars out the window of our Chrysler station wagon as we drove through the night. We enjoyed lots of picnics, and encountered as many interesting characters as there were truck stops along the way.

     At one point I leaned up and asked my dad how he knew the way to Alaska. His answer, “I’ve got a map. I just point the car in the right direction and stay on the road.” That was a good enough answer for me back then.

     I was just a passenger with my coloring books in the back of the family car going along for the ride. It was later, as an adult that I learned how the church we were called to was praying us all the way there. They took up an offering and wired it to mom and dad so we could make it through Canada. Then they took up another offering when we arrived to rent us an apartment until we found a house.

     The moment mom and dad arrived they went to work reaching out to the growing population of single adults. The entire journey was an act of faith and obedience.

     My mother kept a journal of this faith adventure. The last entry was dated the Wednesday night after we had moved into the apartment. She was excited because they had invited everyone to a “pizza fellowship” at our new home and were expecting a lot of new single adults who had never been to church.

     Last week, I longed to be the little girl in this picture instead of the woman out front. But I’d be missing out on important growth and awareness of my dependence on God. Every day when I get home from Mission OKC my body is worn out. While I cool off and rest, my brain begins to process all of the meaningful conversations, seeing the Word of God brought to life, the hugs, the smiles and the hungry bellies filled. My heart is encouraged and spiritual growth is happening in me. This is how faith comes alive, through action!

“So we do not lose heart . . .” as Paul said. “Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. As we look not to the things that are seen but are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.” 2 Corinthians 4:16 &18