"As surely as the LORD your God lives," she replied, "I don't have any bread—only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. I am gathering a few sticks to take home and make a meal for myself and my son, that we may eat it—and die."
Elijah said to her, "Don't be afraid. Go home and do as you have said. But first make a small cake of bread for me from what you have and bring it to me, and then make something for yourself and your son.
(1 Kings 11:12-13, NIV)
Today was my oldest daughter's last day of band camp. I was glad too because for the past few days the van has been sputtering and coughing and making me generally nervous. This morning, a full twenty minutes before she was due at the school, Blue Bartholomew, as my vehicle is loving called by his passengers, refused to say a word.
My daughter, despite being the more rational one of the crew, started doing the lip thing. After an incoherent prayer or two, I rolled my eyes, hit the steering wheel and tried it again.
Nothing.
"Call Daddy?" she asked.
I nodded. Definitely a Daddy situation.
Fatigue laced my husband's sigh as he listened to my story. It wasn't a good time, I knew. It never is. Summers are busy for his company and me being out of town for a few days last week plus one guy out had already set him behind. "I'm on my way..."
True to his word, Griff showed up soon after, giving me "the look" when I turned the key for him. His sigh turned into a whistle. "It's the starter, not the battery."
My daughter and I looked at each other. I started doing some silly dance and totally breaking down. They have to run when they're late for practice, but my daughter laughed anyway. "The look" always makes us laugh.
When he got a towel and laid down beside the car, we stopped laughing. What was he doing? My other daughter came outside and another instruction came from the ground.
"Try it now."
I did try it and you know what? It turned over. Greatest sound I've heard in a long time.
Amazed, I looked over to see what tool he'd used. My husband gave me his infamous look again and held up a stick. "Didn't have what I needed, so I just beat the thing. Now get going and don't turn it off. You'll be okay."
And I was okay. I even came home and jumped off another car just in case (despite my children's lack of confidence in me. "Uh, mom, are you sure you know which one is negative?"). As I went along, I thought about that woman in the Bible who had nothing but her hunger and some flour, some sticks and a prayer. Little did she know that God would turn her lack into breakfast for a prophet.
I don't know who my daughter will become, but I'm sure that she (and all her siblings) will always remember the many times that my husband has creased his brow and made something out of nothing. The next time my blank computer screen looms large in front of me, I'm going to remember it too.
EVEN WHEN THINGS LOOK GRIM, YOU'RE NEVER EMPTY HANDED. SOMETIMES GOD'S JUST LOOKING FOR A STICK AND A PRAYER.
Marilynn Griffith is wife
to a deacon, mom to a tribe and proof that God gives second chances.
When not scrambling to park her van straight AND catch a good sale, she
writes novels about faith, friendship and forgiveness.
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