Black Friday

Late afternoon, on “Black Friday” my daughter Carly was dropping off Stacey and Amy in front of a Scottsdale mall. Each had armloads of gifts and boxes to retrieve. Stacey couldn’t get out of the car until Amy had gathered all her packages. This did not go over well with the couple in the car behind them. The driver started honking her horn. Both Amy and Stacey tried to motion apologies for taking so long. But she kept leaning on her horn. She did not stop until after she pursued Carly out of the mall and several miles down the road…

If you know Carly, there may not be a person on earth less appropriate to honk at. She is incredibly kind, thoughtful and sacrificial. Driving panicked on those streets, she broke into tears at the meanness of the driver. It frightened her, violated her. Something happens to a father when he hears such news. It doesn’t matter if this father is a believer or not. The first thought is usually something like this: “I will somehow discover the identity of this person and set up a hidden horn near the front door of their home. I will blare it for several hours and then stop, giving hope that the ordeal is over, only to start it up again in the middle of the night for them and their neighbors to enjoy. (It’s your fault if you decided to live in a neighborhood next to such a person.)”

I’ve noticed over the years that my first response is sometimes not much different than my first responses were before I was a believer. But there is something deeper now in me, something stronger, something that always eventually seeps through my being. It is love. I am a new creature, fused with God Himself. I really am! In spite of all my mess and failure. I am “Christ in John!” And eventually it shines through. Rarely in the timing or display I would expect or want. Love doggedly waits for my old tapes to yell, scream and cry out “Unfair!” Love doggedly waits for my fear and shame to rise and fail. Love doggedly waits for my blame to run out of steam, for my desperate attempt to control the situation, enact justice, fix my daughter’s wounded heart. Love waits. And then, when I have plotted, manipulated, fixated and schemed my way into a realization that I am just desperately needy of God to do something-then love moves.

-Love calls my name to a higher way, a truer, more authentic, more vulnerable response.
-Love reminds me that I cannot always be there when Carly gets hurt, but He will.
-Love reminds me that He can (and will) use even this stupid, mean event to make her
even more beautiful.
-Love empowers me to see that the woman honking on her horn is full of pain and deeply
needs Jesus.
-Love frees me to forgive that woman, so I can be free to love again.
-Love actually slowly begins to free me to care for that driver.
-Love convinces me He’s in control and loves all that concerns me more than I do.
-Love teaches me to run to my God, the One who loves me most, to tell Him my sadness,
and pain in not being able to protect the ones I love.
-Love allows me to talk about it, so I don’t stuff the pain inside and act out of my shame.
-Love directs me back to my daughter to let her know how proud I am of the beautiful
heart God has formed in her.
-Love gives me words to communicate the depth of my sadness that she had to go
through such pain.
-Love instructs me to remind my daughter that God stands with His arm around her even
in the midst of cruel nonsense that hurts her heart.
-Love reminds me to tell her there is no event He will not redeem.
-Love employs this event and allows a family to draw closer to each other to protect each
other’s hearts with God’s comfort.
-Love allows me to not forget how deeply this world needs Jesus, especially in this
season.
-Love brings me to peace, so I can stay present for those who need me to be fully there.

I love this God. I will follow this God. I will trust this God. I will praise and worship this God. I will teach others of this God’s love. I will depend upon the love of this God to heal me. I will continue to model this God’s life of grace to my family and friends, even when I am in my own pain.

…I love this God.

Posted on Mon, November 2, 2009 by David Pinkerton filed under

grace,
Parenting,

14 comments (Add your own)

1. Marisol wrote:: Carly is lucky to have a Daddy that love her so much, that gets angry when someone threatened her, a daddy that tries to protect her any moment of herlife, but this lady, she does not know that she also has a daddy in heaven (GOD), she doesn't know or feel loved, she seems to be empty, lonely or disturbed. Carly has everything she needs, a father in heaven and a father here on earth that wherever she will be, she wont be alone or unloved, I pray God that angels surround her and give her the strenght and cofidence she needs for every situation that comes in the future, nothing can make her feel unprotected or frightened never again, cause God's power is with Her all the time. She has the wisdom and the aunthority to stand straight and be safe. Blessings to you Lynchs family and ODF members.
Fri, November 25, 2011 @ 1:20 PM
2. Jocelyn wrote:: I am seeking ultiized equipment for your office to get started on a small business. I don't want to lease, and i also don't wish to purchase brand-new. I'd like to locate a
Wed, June 20, 2012 @ 1:35 PM
3. Bubba wrote:: Thanks for hplenig me to see things in a different light.
Sat, June 23, 2012 @ 1:04 AM
4. Tibi wrote:: What I find so interesting is you could never find this aynwhere else.
Sat, September 8, 2012 @ 8:45 AM
5. Accu wrote:: This is the ideal answer. Eveoyrne should read this
Sat, September 8, 2012 @ 1:28 PM
6. Andrea wrote:: Your website has to be the elcetrnoic Swiss army knife for this topic.
Sun, September 9, 2012 @ 5:01 PM
7. Martha wrote:: You have some serious taenlt Janica. Sadie was so hard to work with and you got some amazing pictures! I am so surprised that you were able to capture a lot of Sadie's regular faces since she refused to look at you most of the time. My favorite is the one of her sitting in the grass looking directly up at you. I also love the one of her with her hands clasped and eyes closed; it is CLASSIC Sadie. She makes that face all day long. Actually, I also love every picture where Sadie is making crazy yelling/smiling faces. Can you tell I like them? :)Can't wait to get the CD!
Sun, September 9, 2012 @ 6:18 PM
8. Natu wrote:: I read something a few weeks ago about the 3 keys in dmnreeiting your happiness in a job.CoworkersPayActual workIf 2 out of 3 or good, you should stay; 1 out of 3, you should probably look for something else.In my case, I have great coworkers but don't get paid much at all and no longer enjoy the work. But it's hard when it's the coworkers are keeping you at your job. In my case, I can't imagine finding better coworkers. But in my case, I'd take better work and pay for somewhat less stellar coworkers.
Sun, September 9, 2012 @ 8:50 PM
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Mon, September 10, 2012 @ 3:57 AM
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Tue, September 11, 2012 @ 4:00 AM
11. Nina wrote:: Funny I came across this today. I'm curtenrly in this dilemma, and trying to go back to my old job which is something I didn't realize I love with people I didn't realize I would miss as much as I do. After a year of working in an awful and unprofessional excuse for a company, I've learned that while your career shouldn't become your life, in the US, all of our emphasis is placed on work. And if you don't like what you are doing, and enjoy (or at least find tolerable) the people you work with, you WILL be miserable.
Wed, November 21, 2012 @ 4:40 AM
12. Zafarsharif wrote:: The personalities of our coerokwrs can often make or break the job. I've had jobs that I really liked but coerokwrs that I didn't like so much; if it wasn't for the fact that I liked the work I would have quit right away. On the other hand, sometimes you don't have a choice about it, especially if you need the money. What's worse is if you work a job you dislike with people you dislike, but you can't quit because you can't afford to.
Wed, November 21, 2012 @ 6:55 AM
13. Muhammad wrote:: , there's a limit in both directions. Awesome pelope can make an annoying or tedious part of a job bearable, but if you HATE what you're doing no amount of awesome pelope can make that better. At the same time, dicks can DESTROY an awesome job. I'm lucky enough to have good amounts of both.
Wed, November 21, 2012 @ 2:23 PM
14. Wilson wrote:: Ratpack DJ'ed at a private party in Lenham in Kent the day that Prodigy made this reorcd and they brought it straight from the studio they must of played this and Charly about 6 times each in the 9 hours they were there Truly Epic night
Thu, November 22, 2012 @ 11:08 PM

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Black Friday

Black Friday

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