He Can Do This

Monday night I attended an event where Jill Savage of Hearts-at-Home spoke.I heard about it from another blogger, Wani of Wani’s World (updated with correct link). She kindly invited me, since we live fairly close to each other. I remembered that one of my friends has been a friend to Jill Savage since their childhood, so I invited her to come along. We rode together and joined the group of ladies at the event.First of all, I’d like to thank whoever made the taquitos and the little cucumber open-faced sandwiches. Those hit the spot. Oh, and that dessert with a thick layer of chocolate on top and fluffy white stuff in the middle. That was scary-good. I wish I’d taken seven.Next, I’d like to say that it is quite fun to meet a blogger in real life. Here’s the snapshot someone took of Wani and me: I’m stealing Wani’s, because I don’t look quite so silly in hers.In the one taken with my camera, just as the shutter clicked, I lifted my eyebrows and the result is that I look quite startled, as if someone just dropped a plate of those chocolate-fluffy desserts onto the floor in front of me. Oh!I’d also like to say that I enjoyed the worship songs. A guy with a guitar led a simple time of singing (Wani, that was your husband, right?). I was moved to be singing that older worship chorus “Change My Heart, O God” with a group of women who seemed to want it to happen. The title of the event was “New Year, New You: Extreme Heart Makeover,” so asking God to change our hearts and then being receptive to what He might say through Jill’s message fit well.Finally, two things stood out to me. Jill posed the question, “Is your home a safe place?” She talked about how God often gives us opportunities to practice grace, and we face a Y. One path is to choose grace. The other, well, we know the other one. It’s not safe.She told the story of a police officer catching her speeding. I won’t tell the story, in case you ever hear her speak. But he may or may not have extended grace. Well, about halfway through her message, I flipped open my planner to jot a little note and saw with horror that I’d completely spaced a pediatrician appointment for two of the kids! It was just an annual exam, nothing urgent, but I didn’t see it. I didn’t go. Mortified, I realized the next morning I’d have to phone them and accept the consequences–the charge for missing an appointment is $25, and I had two of them scheduled at the same time. I wanted to kick myself, but that might have distracted from Jill’s message, so I refrained.So the next morning, humble and apologetic, I phoned the pediatrician’s office prepared to accept office policy. Instead, I got grace.The receptionist spoke in kind, gracious tones and told me that it was okay. It happens. “Let’s get you rescheduled, shall we?” No mention of the fee. No humiliation. No rubbing it in. No stern Nurse Hatchett.This is not to say that I won’t be stuck with that extra charge when I go in for the rescheduled appointment, but I felt that I received a bit of grace.Jill reminded us to extend grace to our family. When faced with that Y, with that choice, choose grace.She also told a story of how she was delivering one of her babies without the epidural working right. She could feel the pain, and it was terrible. The room was spinning–she felt utterly out of control and panicked. It was time to push, but she couldn’t pull herself together. Finally, the doctor himself took hold of her face in his two hands to get her to look him straight in the eyes. “Jill! You can do this.”She calmed down a little, and he repeated it. “You can do this.”  And she was able to take a deep breath and focus–and of course she was able to push and get the job done.She used this as a reminder that if we’re not careful, things happen in our lives and the world can seem like it’s spinning all around us, and we panic and can’t seem to focus.But the Lord is trying to get through to us. The mountains may be spinning, but He is the one who can move mountains. Calm down, focus, and rest in Him, trusting.Next time I’m panicked about something, unable to focus, feeling like my world is spinning out of control, I’m going to picture Jill smooshing her face forward with her two hands, as the doctor had all those years before, saying, “You can do this!”I’m going to imagine the Lord gently taking hold of my face like that to look me in the eye:”Ann! You don’t have to do this. I can do this!”