Stretching

I'm sure we have all found ourselves at one time or another in "stretching" moments.

Maybe it's the 24/7 job of being a mommy to precious little ones and going to bed one more night in a row, wondering who is going to wake up sick to their stomachs this time.

Perhaps, it's a changing of "roles" as you take care of parents, who used to be the one who always took care of you.

Possibly, you are pushing through yet another semester of school, wondering how many more late nights and early mornings can I pull, and who in the world your friends are?


For me, I am being stretched tremendously as I learn to be content in WHATEVER circumstance.  Including, the sad days when it seems all I want is a lunch date to Chick-fil-a with one of my closest girlfriends.  The trying days, where I butcher yet another Creole phrase and mess-up another detail in this new routine we call life.


Today, Trey and I were driving back to our house after visiting with some friends and making some other stops when we passed the lady on the motorcycle below:

I instantly grabbed for my camera and had to take a picture of this amazing position!  I have seen a lot of very interesting motorcycle riding positions in our time here in Haiti, but this one tops them all.  As soon as I saw this woman on the back of the motorcycle, I instantly thought, "Wow, and I thought I was being stretched!"

As we passed the motorcycle I expected to see white knuckles, a face of fear, and intense discomfort on the woman in this most unfortunate position.  To my surprise, the woman had her hands placed gently on top of her sack of food in front of her.  Instead of a face of discomfort, she looked rather somber and quite settled.  I was amazed!

Here the motorcycle was zooming down the road, the heat from the sun was shining directly on her, and one bump in the wrong direction and she would be off the backside of the bike!  Not to mention, how she was going to feel when she stepped off at the end of their journey.

I met eyes with the woman as we passed and we exchanged greetings with a smile.  As I looked into her eyes as we drove past, I could not stop thinking about her calm and content face in a rather unfortunate position.  I began to think about Philippians 4:5, which says, "Let your reasonableness be known to everyone.  The Lord is at hand..."

I can promise you, if that would have been me straddling the back of the motorcycle, there would have been no sign of reasonableness or calm on my face!  Philippians 4 is not instruction on how we are to look when riding a motorcycle, but it is guidance for our lives as believers.  I so often find myself in "stretching" situations, with panic and uncertainty ALL OVER my face.

The Lord quickly reminded me today..."My sweet daughter, do not just say you love me and trust in my plans...let others see it on your face and in your behavior.  Be reasonable in your thoughts and your words, show others I am with you!"  

After passing the woman on the motorcycle I was no longer amazed by her intense splits on the back of the bike.  I was consumed by her response to the stretching.  As we are stretched, twisted, and pulled...may the guidance and comfort of our Savior shine brighter than our circumstances.