Encourage Me: What’s a Girl to Do?

On December 22, 2015, (Tuesday afternoon) a close friend out-of-state (“Godgy”) of my wife’s contacted me at my place of employment, the Staples at Easton Market, to request that I buy a rather unique gift item (that I knew our store carried) and a Christmas card for Bobbi from him to be opened on Christmas day with the rest of our family gifts. Message delivery like this has happened to me before. (see Uncomfortable, but Needed)

I knew about Bobbi’s friendship with Godgy. They had been good friends at one time. Bobbi’s life today had caused communication alterations with the two. They still tried to do Facebook regularly. After work at around 2:15pm at the nearby card store (Party City), I looked for a very special holiday greeting card.

I knew Godgy wouldn’t find a humorous card (with Santa or a bouncing puppy dog) appropriate for the message he wanted me to write inside it. When I saw the simple religious card with Mary (and the Baby Jesus) on it, I knew I’d found exactly what Godgy would want from me to put on His gift.

Over the next couple days I fretted (and wondered) how Bobbi would react to Godgy’s generosity. I asked several friends (as well my adult daughter, who was home on Christmas break (from Youth with a Mission) to remember me in their prayers. Allena promised she would keep my secret. In her eyes this whole thing about God communicating with her father for her mother was cool thing.

As some of you may have guessed by now, Godgy is God. On Christmas day, I had set instructions (that I should not stray from or add to). My wife was to be unaware of any of this until Christmas Day when she would first open her card, read and absorb the message from God, and then open His (mysterious) present. Done this way everything made sense.

How would my wife react when she read this following note in her card? (After 23 years of marriage I thought could make an accurate prediction.) “My Precious Daughter, I want you to know just how much I love you. I am so very proud of you. Robert fought me on giving you this gift. I hope you will allow it to help you to relax. GOD”

The avalanche of tears and peppering of questions about the process I predicted didn’t happen. Instead there was unexpected silence. At first when she read her card, she thought in my absentmindedness I’s wrapped a gift for our daughter, Allena, and given it to her in error. In the silence I confirmed none of this was from me.

When Bobbi opened God’s delightful gift, she told me she’d had one as a child (1970’s), and always enjoyed using it. Her bubbling laughter upon holding a classic Etch A Sketch magic screen in her hands was warm and reassuring that this had been the right thing to do. Bobbi confirmed God’s message of love and peace in her hectic life was needed now more than ever. *

Why do I always worry so much about what God wants to do in my life? Could it be I have no control over His outcome to make it turn out the way I want it to? God’s end result is always better than anything I could have ever imagined. I need to RELAX (just as God told Bobbi).

Psalms 56:11 (NLT) says, “I trust in God, so why should I be afraid?” I need to be more vigilant in trusting God’s creative methods in resolving challenges as I strive to do His will to the best of my ability. What about you?

* In the mid 1950’s, Andre’ Casagnes, a French electrician, conceived the idea for an earlier prototype of this toy, which would later be produced by The Ohio Art Company. (The very first Etch A Sketch was produced in Bryan, OH, July 12, 1960.