And now.....a little inspiration from the world of Justin!
Justin is my youngest brother. My little buddy. He just turned 9 years old! He loves his immense toy car collection, his sandbox, the trampoline, Bible stories, playing soccer in the house, yogurt with frozen blueberries, green smoothies, hugs, tickling, and being silly. He is also specially designed with Down Syndrome.
Did I mention that Justin loves Bible stories? More specifically, he loves to act out Bible stories. He is a natural little character. One of his favorite games to play with his siblings is acting out his favorite Bible stories on the trampoline. David and Goliath, Joseph and his brothers, Mary and Joseph go to Bethlehem, Joshua and the walls of Jericho, Peter and John healing the lame man.....the list goes on. As a part of his daily school routine, Justin reads, watches, and sometimes performs Bible stories with Mom.
With the delightful simpleness of a little child, Justin accepts these stories as the truth they are, and he figures, if something worked for Jesus, it ought to work the same for Justin! Hence the interaction to follow.
This account took place recently on a wet day following some severe thunderstorms. Mom and Justin had come home from town and were in the process of getting lunch when the lights flickered. Justin immediately became concerned and asserted that they should turn off the lights and bring out the candles! In a little bit, the lights flickered again and went out for a minute, then came back on. Now Justin really thought it better to turn them all out, and he went off to find a large flashlight. Since it was the middle of the day, Mom and Alana assured him there was no need of a flashlight. Suddenly, the electricity cut off again, and this time it stayed off! And Justin had a brilliant idea. "I am Jesus!" he declared, "I will calm it!" He turned in the direction of the lights and said, "Calm down!" When nothing happened, he said, "Stomping will help!" and proceeded to stomp around on the floor. Of course that brought no results. Mom began explaining that there are some things we can't do without electricity, but there is still plenty we can do, since it is the middle of the day and there is enough daylight. When she told him he could still play the piano, he said, "The piano will help!" He marched over to the piano and mashed both hands down on the low notes! Unfortunately, this did not work either.
A short time later, as the family sat in the living room talking, Justin's mind lit up! "I got it! My brother David! David can fix it!" Apparently David can do anything. But apparently he wasn't in the vicinity, so no luck there.
In time, the lights came on, and Justin proclaimed, "It's a miracle!"
At bedtime, Justin wanted to pray about the "lecticity". So he and Mom said thank you to God for turning on the electricity so they could have lights, and cook supper, and use water, and wash dishes, and wash clothes, and flush the toilet!
I don't know if this story strikes you with the same hilarity it did me. But oh, to have such simple, straightforward faith in the power of Jesus for today's everyday challenges, and the joyful delight in everyday "miracles", like electricity! Justin has no concept of impossibility. What a way to live! After all, we know the God who makes everything possible!
