Take Heart!

It was December 30th, 1944—just days from the New Year when Corrie ten Boom was released from Ravensbruck. Released from a Nazi concentration camp which stole from her her beloved sister, Betsie, and subjected her to horrors unparalleled. Corrie lived through perhaps the darkest time of humanity and walking out of this death camp she might have been quick to claim the New Year as her New Hope. She might have been sure 1945 would be better than 1944. But Corrie walked away—more likely, limped away — with her eyes fixed firmly on Jesus and the New Life only He can bring.

I know we are all feeling the weight of the world right now -- And it’s only the first week of January. This was my concern when I kept seeing the barrage of verbal hope being placed on the flip of our calendar year. Goodbye 2020, here’s to a New Year in 2021!

But, here we are: The start of a new year and yet so heartbroken and heavy for our nation. For our children. For our future. For ourselves. Whether it’s been the miserable covid or the continued mayhem of our country. Here we are.

Last week, on the eve of this New Year, my cousin buried her husband and my dad got news of his best friend’s passing. Heavy days for my family, but I’m sure we weren’t alone in these sad events. My guess is that even one week in and many of you have already been handed diagnoses, disappointments or, are right now, dealing with some kind of incredible burden.

Dear ones, we’ve got to stop looking to ourselves or our circumstances or our leaders … OR even to our new calendar year. They are not enough. They won’t be. They can’t be. These things will always fall short. Always.

Corrie’s sister, Betsie, died just two weeks before her freedom. In her final words in the final month of a horrific 1944, Betsie, eloquently encouraged her sister,

“we must tell them what we have learned here. We must tell them that there is no pit so deep that He is not deeper still. They will listen to us, Corrie, because we have been here.”

I know things are rough right now. I know we are all angry, outraged and, frankly, tired of the chaos and the constant issues.

But as Corrie said so beautifully, “You can never learn that Christ is all you need, until Christ is all you have.”

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But TAKE HEART! I have overcome the world.” John 16:33

[if you'd like to read more of Corrie's story, I encourage you to read her book, The Hiding Place. It is one of my all time favorites].

It Will All Be Okay

a church in Aurora, where I was staying this week

I just wanted to share a little story on this New Year’s Day. A story of something good. A story of something I hope encourages you. 

This past Tuesday I flew into Cleveland for a family funeral. Not a planned trip and definitely not the best of circumstances. After landing in Cleveland, I was standing in line at Hertz when, to my horror, I realized my wallet wasn’t in my purse or my bag or anywhere. I had a rental car waiting for me, but I had to get back on the shuttle and return to the terminal and to the Delta desk. Of course I was frantic. I couldn’t remember seeing my wallet since I had checked into the airport hours earlier in Atlanta. All of my identification, credit cards and money were gone—apparently somewhere between Atlanta and Cleveland. Here I was coming into town to “help out,” and I found myself, instead, totally helpless. And let me just admit, I don’t like to be helpless. Not one bit. I like to be the one helping. I like to be the one who swoops in and takes care … and takes over. But there I was stuck in the airport with no immediate options but to rely completely on others.

The driver of the shuttle saw me return and kindly asked if anything was wrong. I suppose my distress was pretty evident. I explained my predicament, saying I’d need to return to the terminal and find a Delta agent. He quickly reloaded my bag onto the bus and knowing I was probably near tears kept saying, “It’s okay miss, it’s going to be okay. These things have a way of working themselves out.” All the way back to the terminal he encouraged me with gentle words. As I jumped back off the shuttle, he shouted after me one more time, “I’m going to pray you find your wallet!” 

I didn't get his name. I sure wish I had, he was such a kind soul and I was so grateful for his words. In addition to the shuttle driver, I also need to give a sincere shout out to Delta Airlines. We have always loved this organization, but they were amazing as well. I guess it happens all the time, but it’s the first time it had happened to me. The people at the desk did everything in their power. They called the gate and checked the plane. One agent personally took off running to the departure gate and removed seat cushions as the plane was about to leave. He came back and told me how the new passengers were all helping search, some even holding their iPhone flashlights for him to see better. The Delta agents assisted me with the correct numbers to call and the websites to visit. In today’s fully automated world, this is not exactly an easy process to navigate. The Cleveland police were close by and they sent word to the other side of the airport to have someone check the restroom. On and on it went … all the while the Delta agents encouraged me “it would be okay.” 

Finally after an hour of communicating with Atlanta, my wallet was located. They assured me it was in a safe and secure location— albeit in a different city. Praise the Lord. The agents all celebrated with me. So sweet. Later that night, after checking into my hotel, another Delta agent called from Atlanta “just to check on me” and, one more time, assured me the wallet was secure. She repeated that same phrase, “don’t worry, we have it and it’s going to be okay.”

How many times in a long couple of hours had I been told those same words — it’s going to be okay.  Amazing. And sweet.  And much needed. Not only were these strangers wonderful, but I also have to acknowledge all the other people who came to my rescue—My sister Jess who had to make the unplanned hour drive to the airport to retrieve her big sister who, now without a license, was unable to rent a car. No fun for her as she was in town busily helping my parents ... as well as just having dropped off a meal for our extended family dealing with funeral arrangements and loss. What a can of worms I opened, right? What drama I had caused. But Jess gave me a ride and a credit card and my cousins gave me an extra car to use for the week and my kids helped me get Apple Pay and a credit card loaded on my phone and they sent me photos of my passport and when I got to the hotel, the people at the sweet little Aurora Inn were so kind — they even had a golden retriever behind the bar for me to pet!  While ordering food (and petting the dog) the gal taking my order heard a tiny bit of my story and responded with, you guessed it: “oh, I’m so sorry, but it’s going to be okay.” 

All that to say, I was well cared for—From Delta to my family to complete strangers. I ended up feeling greatly blessed in my need. I guess it’s true: Sometimes we have to become needy to receive certain blessings. 

All week long, I have been giving thanks for all the little things which had to come together to get me out of my pickle and allow me to love my family best I could. Today flying home my brother and niece dropped me off at the Cleveland airport not knowing exactly how that would work going through TSA with no identification except for my passport on my phone and my Delta app. Knowing the tricky situation, I had family members praying for me. And again, Delta was awesome. They gave me zero problem. Cleveland just opened up “Clear” and I was able to go right through security with just my eye print and fingerprint for identification, never needing the license. And it was, indeed, all okay.

I’m quickly pounding out my little story while up in the air headed back to Atlanta. The weather conditions are less than ideal. The plane is shaking and dipping something fierce.The (Delta) pilot, like everyone else this week, keeps assuring us from the cockpit, “don't worry folks, everything will be okay.” Seems almost impossible how many times I’ve heard that phrase this week. But these words of encouragement and all the acts of kindness from this week have me feeling overwhelmed today as I head back south. Staring out my airplane window I can hardly hold back the tears. Lots of emotions coursing through me thinking over the events of this week—Mostly, the tragedy in my cousin’s life burying her husband on the final day of 2020. The image of her four boys lined up in their suits at the funeral saying goodbye to their father. The extended family I saw and hugged this week. The family that had to stay home because of Covid precautions and distance. Spending New Year’s Eve last night with my parents who are aging and not leaving their home much  these days. My little mishap and all the caring people who helped. Even just being back home in Ohio (which always gets me). And here we all are in this New Year with all of our hopes for something better. Everyone’s hopes and wishes and words for a better year. Everyone’s prayers that it truly will “all be okay.” All of it. So much. It feels like so much.

Friends, I have to be honest, I don’t know if 2021 is going to bring something much better than 2020. I don’t know that. I do know we are putting a whole lot of stock in the flipping of a calendar year. And I'm a little worried about this. I worry that we think all the hard and tragic things will miraculously come to an end because 2020 is behind us. I guess I’m not much of a realist, but even I think we have to be careful in what we place our hope. It’s not a new year. It won’t ever be a new year. If that’s the case, I’m afraid we are setting ourselves up for some great, great disappointment. No, our hope has nothing to do with January, it has everything to do with Jesus. And even Jesus doesn't promise perfect days ahead. In fact, He tells us "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. but take heart! I have overcome the world." John 16:33

And ...when we do encounter hard things in this next year--as I am certain we will--like my many new friends told me this week, I want to truly remember “it will all be okay.”