It
was a typical Wednesday night. Frank was
working late because he feels called to
donate extra time to the ministry. (My
theory is that he doesn’t want to get
involved with the carpool issues). We
inhaled dinner, brushed our teeth and
jumped in the Durango. I drove to one
church where Jordan and Capri attend
AWANA—a wonderful Bible memorization
program for children, and then to
another church, where Paris attends
ONEIGHTY—an innovative outreach where
teenagers are inundated with junk food,
video games, loud music and Jesus.
(Let’s just say it’s not your
grandmother’s mid-week prayer service).
I
then drove to the local Marriott
Residence Inn, which has a lovely living
room with plenty of couches, tables, and
chairs. I arrive there each Wednesday
evening at 7:15 and sit at the table in
the back right corner, as far away as
possible from the suspended T.V., which
is always tuned to CNN. By the time I
get there, the hotel guests interested
in freebies have left the premises after
enjoying burgers, dogs, chips and
cookies. I always greet the kind young
Guatemalan woman who vacuums the earth
tone room. I proceed to empty my tote
bag onto the square dining table. Out
come two Bibles, one concordance, a
study guide by Warren Wiersbe and a
notebook. I reach into my handbag for a
blue pen, a black pen, a red Flair and a
yellow Hi-liter. I bow my head, say a
prayer, reach for my tools and proceed
to prepare the lesson I will share with
local Reston women each week.
I
plan to expound upon the Biblical text
of Ephesians 2 and I will spend a great
deal of time on the nature and beauty
and privilege of “inheritance.” On that
particular Wednesday evening, I had a
breakthrough with the Holy Spirit and I
began to write with passion, conviction,
and direction. I felt enlightened and
inspired and then my cell phone rang.
“Mrs. Lofaro?”
“Speaking.”
“This is Janice Lane, Capri’s
group leader at AWANA. She slipped and
fell during gametime and is unable to
put any pressure on her left foot. We
have ice on it but you will probably
want to come over and get her.” My
thoughts scurried.
It
was only 7:45. AWANA is not over until
8:45. I am supposed to
have another hour to finalize this
lesson. I will probably want to
come over? What if I probably don’t
want to come over? What if I definitely
don’t want to come over? What if
I want to be alone?
What if I want a break? What if I’m
tired of having my plans rearranged by
short people?
“Is my little honey in pain?”
“No, she’s actually taking it
like a champ. No tears or complaints.”
The
Marriott is only five minutes from the
church that hosts AWANA, which is why I
go there instead of driving home. The 90
minutes of study time is just perfect. I
need that time. Really, I do. I doubted
Capri suffered more than a simple
sprain.
“Thank you so much for calling.
Please tell Capri I love her and that
I’ll be there as soon as I can—probably,
um, uh…about 20 minutes.”
“O.K. We’ll see you then. Bye-bye.”
Well,
at least I bought myself 15 more
minutes. After all, I was on a spiritual
roll.
I
jotted down two more sentences, felt my
stomach tighten and decided I was a
horrible mother. I placed the key into
the ignition two minutes later. When I
arrived at the church,
I was
led down two hallways and into a small
room where my then nine year old baby
girl sat atop a desk. She gave me a half
grin, mostly because she was enjoying
all the attention.
“Can you walk on it honey?”
“No way.”
“Can you try?”
“Nope, I already tried. It’s broken.”
“Capri! Don’t say that! It’s not
broken.
“Ma…did you forget? When it doesn’t
swell… it’s broken.”
“It’s probably just a bad sprain. We’ll
call Dr. Thal in the morning.”
I
thanked the people who cared for Capri
and proceeded to carry her through the
halls,past the large crowd, (where I
used contorted facial gestures to
extract Jordan), up the stairs and
across the parking lot. It dawned on me
that the pip-squeak of the family was no
longer light. Night passed and morning
came and I learned that our neighbor,
Dr. Ray Thal (from Long Island) was away
on vacation. His associate could not see
Capri until 1:00. I drove her to school,
carried her into the nurse’s office and
placed her in a pre-arranged wheelchair.
Jordan strolled off with his little
sister and she beamed as if she were a
bride walking down the aisle. Everyone
stared and many offered sympathy, gifts,
and favors. She rode the elevator all
day, got excused from P.E. and received
a free ice cream from the lunch lady.
Capri was one happy camper. I made it to
the morning Bible study on time but not
on target.
The
teacher was not fully prepared. I
greeted the women and opened with a
simple prayer. We all turned to Chapter
2 of Ephesians and a volunteer began to
read aloud. She read verses 1-7 and then
another woman read 8-10. “It is by
grace you have been saved, through
faith---and this not from yourselves, it
is the gift of God---not by works, so
that no one can boast. For we are God’s
workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to
do good works, which God prepared in
advance for us to do.”
Mmmm...which
God prepared in advance for us to do…as
believers, our works are not only good,
they are prepared. What an amazing
concept! In Ephesians 1, we learn of
our riches in Christ. He has chosen us,
adopted us, accepted us, redeemed us,
forgiven us, revealed God’s will to us,
and arranged our inheritance. A friend
of mine just adopted a Chinese baby girl
who was abandoned with a note pinned to
her blanket. This friend happens to be
quite wealthy and I was struck by the
fact that this little girl became
wealthy the minute those adoption papers
were signed. She didn’t earn it, or work
for it, or even ask for it. But
everything they have is now hers.
How
bankrupt we are when we do not know our
inheritance. We are wealthy in Christ’s
riches and yet, many of us live as
spiritual paupers. I am sad for the
times I spend looking toward my duties
rather than God’s delight. Paul balances
doctrine with duty. We
inherit the wealth by faith and
invest the wealth by works. The
point of the lesson suddenly became
clear to me and I was filled with tears.
I shared about my week and the incidents
that were causing resentment,
frustration, exhaustion and burnout. I
explained that we need to serve the Lord
with a joyful heart and do all things
(even the menial, mundane tasks) as unto
the Lord. I shared about how badly I had
missed the mark that week. I shared
about how duty becomes a joy-buster when
our motives are not in line with God’s
will. The bible study didn’t go as I had
expected that morning---God exceeds
expectations.
I
picked up Capri (literally) from school
and got to the orthopedic specialist at
1:00 sharp. Three x-rays, and two hours
later, she was the proud owner of a
purple cast and two chrome crutches.
When the doctor came in with the bad
news, Capri let out a celebratory
holler. The kid was beaming with pride.
She couldn’t wait to get to school the
next day, or to church that Sunday, or
back to AWANA the following Wednesday.
She absolutely reveled in her new
personal chauffer service (moi) to and
from school for three weeks. I bought
her a new Easter dress with purple
flowers to match the cast and she made
sure everyone noticed her “condition.”
Of course, I was the one to wash that
leg, that foot, and those toes when the
cast came off. I suppose it was a good
work that God prepared in advance.
