The Great Adventure!

♫ “Saddle up your horses, we've got a trail to blaze

Through the wild blue yonder of God's amazing grace

Let's follow our leader into the glorious unknown

This is a life like no other, whoa whoa this is the great adventure.” ♪ *

                                                                                 --- Steven Curtis Chapman

I had the opportunity to get blessed yesterday toward the end of our grocery shopping adventure at our local Super Walmart.  The older gal who checked us out has been a regular checker since we first started shopping there a couple of years ago.  In the past when we had gone through her line I barely got a few lines of communication from her.  But for some reason this time was different. 

By the time we got to the front of the line I had already been joking with the gentleman before me as I noticed that he was about to purchase a pair of slippers identical to the pair I have.  He in turn joked with the cashier and she just seemed to keep it going when she started scanning our items.  As we laughed she suddenly took a real interest in Piper, her situation and my care for her.  The lady mentioned that she had seen us many times in the store and always took note of my attentiveness to my wife.

She went on to say many nice things about my attitude concerning our situation and my personal care for Piper.  By the time we walked out of the store I felt like I was walking on the clouds!  Once we got to our car in the parking lot, I pushed Piper up to the car door, opened the door and then went down on a knee so that I could gently move her feet off the foot stirrups, pick her up and seat her in the car.  While I was kneeling by her I heard a man’s gentle voice behind me asking if I needed any help.

When I turned around I observed a gentleman about my age with long gray hair smiling at us.  I politely declined his offer and thanked him profusely for the offer. (I have the process down to a science and don’t really see how another hand or two would be able to help me get her through the car doorway into the front seat!)  A few minutes later after I had gotten Piper into the car and was unloading the groceries from the cart into the back seat, I suddenly heard that same voice joking that he forgot the item he was planning to return to the store and had to come back to his car.

We talked for a few moments and he made mentioned of how peaceful “my daughter” looked as he motioned to Piper in the front seat.  I had to laugh at that point and told him that she actually was my wife.  He went on to say how young she looks and then stated many of the same nice things that the cashier had back in the store. 

I have to admit that his taking the time to talk with and encourage me really touched my heart.  After loading the groceries and parking the cart, I slumped into the driver’s seat next to Piper and simply stared across the parking lot as I considered everything both the kind folks had said.  Then I found myself drifting off into deep thought as the events of the last ten years flashed through my brain…

Piper took a long time to drink a good portion of her breakfast this morning and I have to admit that I did have to fight a little bit of discouragement while I encouraged her to swallow each little milliliter of her breakfast protein drink.  By the time it was obvious that she wasn’t going to swallow anymore, I was feeling like I’d just run a few miles on our new tread mill but I pushed on, grabbed the dog’s lease and prepared to take him out for his morning constitutional… and that’s when I heard Steven Curtis Chapman singing “The Great Adventure” from my computer’s Pandora morning mix.

At that point I stopped in mid-stride and had to smile and admit that we have been on quite “The Great Adventure” since we began this journey.  That thought along with the remembrances of the two conversations yesterday cause me to reflect upon the “POSITION” that we took back in the beginning days in 2007.

In 2 Chronicles chapter twenty we read the story of King Jehoshaphat and the children of Israel’s fight against three enemy armies that had joined together to attack them.  In verse seventeen we hear the Lord speaking to the people telling them: “You won't fight this battle. Instead, take your position, stand still, and see the victory of the LORD for you, Judah and Jerusalem. Don't be frightened or terrified. Tomorrow go out to face them. The LORD is with you." (God’s Word ©)  A few verses later we find out that the POSITION they were called to take was that of PRAISE! (2 Chronicles 20:21)

The thought of Jehoshaphat and the children of Israel’s POSITION of PRAISE made me smile as I stood between the table and the sliding glass window on the way to the back deck, for that is the exact same POSITION that Piper and I took and continue to take throughout this “Great Adventure” of faith that we have embarked upon.  That scripture and that POSITION contain so much material to discuss, but I’ll bring today’s post to a close sufficing to say that it is our POSITION of PRAISE that gets me up with a smile on my face, a song on my lips and the expectation of God’s best in my heart each day.

Without a doubt the mornings have been the toughest time of the day for us as Piper is usually at her weakest point when I first get her up, it is the time when most of her emergency situations have taken place and for some reason is the time when she consumes the largest intake of food for the day.  Without our POSITION of PRAISE, I am not sure how I could face each and every new day. 

2 Chronicles 20:20 informs us that even though they faced unbeatable odds and the very real potential of death itself that the children of Israel still “got up early in the morning and went to the desert of Tekoa...”  That determination was the effect of their POSITION of PRAISE because they believed the Lord and what their King told them when he declared: “Listen to me, people of Judah and those living in Jerusalem. Trust the LORD your God, and believe. Believe his prophets, and you will succeed." 

It is our trust and belief in the Lord and His Word that empowers our POSITION of PRAISE to face the trials of this life… with a smile on your face, a song on your lips and the expectation of God’s best in your heart each day.

What can I say?  IT WORKS FOR ME… and will for you as well! 

Have a great rest of the week, and as you do, keep asking yourself… “Am I expecting to take a POSTION of PRAISE today?”

PS:  The conclusion of Steven Curtis Chapman’s song “The Great Adventure” ends with the words:  "The love of God will take us far beyond our wildest dreams"* 

*Songwriters: STEVEN CURTIS CHAPMAN, GEOFF MOORE

© CAPITOL CHRISTIAN MUSIC GROUP