Magic Cards - August 7,
2001
Last week we took a short getaway with the kids, a
sort of mini-vacation before we get back on the road and
Kayla starts school. There wasn't enough time to leave
town, so we checked into local hotel and spent two days
seeing the sights of Kansas City. Granted, it wasn't
Disneyworld, but our girls had a blast. One of the
highlights of the trip was right at our hotel door. Our
door lock used the new plastic credit-card sized room
keys instead of a traditional metal key, and both girls
eagerly vied for the privileged honor of slipping the
card in the door slot. We had some occasions where we
opened, closed, and reopened the door just to make sure
no one was left out. Alisha, our two year old, summed it
up when she said, "Cool room."
Those key cards provided yet another attraction - a
chance for dad to demonstrate his magical sleight of hand
talents. (In case you are wondering, I don't have any
sleight of hand talent, but don't tell the kids!) While
no one was looking I would slip one of the cards in my
left pants pocket. Then the girls would watch in
amazement as I placed the identical card in my right
pocket, uttered some mystical words, did a little dance,
and presto! - pulled the original card from it's hiding
place. The girls had no idea how I was able to magically
move the card from right to left pocket, they just
watched in wonder as time after time I bent the laws of
nature. I knew exactly how the trick worked because I
knew the hidden details the kids couldn't see. From their
perspective it was a mystery, from mine it was perfectly
logical.
There are times in our lives when we face situations
that are a mystery to us. We have no idea how our current
tragedy fits into God's big picture, or why He wants us
to go through this valley at all. We can choose to
respond anger, fear, doubt, denial, and unbelief ... or
we can trust that God knows how the trick works. He has
the pieces in place and if we let Him, He will work
everything out just the way He has it planned. God in His
infinite wisdom has decided that we don't need to know
everything. We may never find out in this life what God
has hidden in his pocket, but if we trust Him, we can
stop worrying and enjoy the show ... excitedly waiting to
see what He's going to do for an encore.
