Tuesday With Teri

          My mother is in town visiting this month.  I love this lady.   Sure there have been some adjustments that have come as a result of her visit…preparing foods that are best for her health, slowing my pace on some days and struggling to keep up with her on other days…but I am really enjoying our time together. 

          Of course there are moments…like when we happened across a television station featuring what seemed to be a marathon of Bill Gaither’s Gospel Hour.   Do not get me wrong, I like good gospel music and I loved how much she was enjoying it, but I think I discovered my gospel intake limit.

          Best of all are moments like the one I experienced yesterday afternoon.  I was reminded of a vital part of parenting when my mother and I both responded to a crisis in two different ways.

          My daughter Ashley called from South Carolina where she is attending school.  She was distraught.  She was calling from her dentist, where she had just realized she had lost her wallet when she stopped to get gas earlier in the day.  To say she was upset would be a severe understatement.  The enormity of such a loss, while not on par with loss of life, quickly overtook her as she contemplated the insane complications of replacing I.D.s , driver license and bank cards.

          Through her tears, she told me she was sure she had set her wallet on her car while fueling up and possibly drove off with it there.  She was sure it was strewn somewhere along the road and gone for good.  She’d even had a friend drive back there to look and it was not found.  I tried to calm her down and assure her we would be able to remedy the situation.

          As soon as I was off the phone with her I shared the dilemma with my mom.  Then I began the task of contacting our bank to insure we protected her account.  While going through the phone prompts to speak to a bank representative, I simultaneously searched online for DMV information to secure a new license.  I was writing notes to myself fast and furious, hoping to give Ashley all the information she would need in the coming days and help relieve her distress.  My reactive endeavor seemed like the best thing to do…but it was MY MOM who had the best reaction of all.

          While I was busy trying to handle the situation, my mom was quietly in the next room in prayer.  Her FIRST instinct was to pray.  She specifically asked God to keep her wallet safe and enable her to find it. 

          Soon Ashley called back, her voice filled with relief.  She had driven back to the gas station one more time and found her wallet sitting safely, untouched, atop the gas pump.  Praise God!

          I was going to pray, I’m sure of it…just as soon as I was done making the phone calls and checking online for information…okay, I’ll admit it…it is easy to slip out of the habit of praying continually.  I trust God in all things and for all things because my mom did a good job of teaching me of His faithfulness…yet in the midst of a small crisis it was the internet and phone book I went to first. 

… Jesus answered saying to them, “Have faith in God.  Truly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes what he says is going to happen, it shall be granted him.  Therefore I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they shall be granted you.”  (Mark 11:22-24)

Still learning and relearning from my mom!