All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”). Matthew 1: 22-23
The older I get, the more I realize my energy level just isn’t what it used to be! Frequently, after a long workweek, Ken and I are just toast on Friday nights! It’s usually around 8:00 p.m. on a Friday night when we start to approach the comatose state of being in front of the television. Often, we find ourselves reminiscing of the “good old days” when our Friday night would just be getting started at 8:00 p.m. as we would go for dinner and (gasp!) a 10:00 p.m. movie!
So we were really stretching ourselves a few weeks ago when we accepted an invitation to join friends for a 7:30 p.m. dinner at a restaurant located in Detroit on a Friday night! Racing home and changing our clothes, we met up with the other couple, who also offered to drive, and then proceeded to our destination. The conversation was extremely pleasant, but as soon as the Lodge freeway led us into the city, an unexpected pothole suddenly appeared, and the heavy traffic left no option to avoid hitting it. The terrifying noise and the immediate “low tire pressure” warning that appeared on the dashboard confirmed that we had a serious issue. Driving on the rim, and in the pouring rain, our friend was able to get off the Lodge at Mack Ave and pull into a gas station.
My first reaction was to call AAA, but the other wife, Peggy, immediately professed, “This happened to me once when I was much younger and had babies in the car. I just prayed for the Lord to send someone to help me and He did, so I’m just going to pray for that again right now!” And while we called AAA, she called upon God. When AAA told us that it would be at least an hour before help could arrive, Ken and the other gentleman began to take matters into their own hands. As the two of them started to change the tire themselves, a kind gentleman wearing a sweatshirt with “Hood's Tires" embroidered on it appeared. “Let me help you! I have all of the right tools in my truck, and I can get this tire changed in no time.” Within minutes, the spare tire was on the car. As a token of appreciation, our friend tried to pay the gentleman, but the kind man refused and said, “I’m just trying to shine His light!” As he pulled away, we all acknowledged how Peggy had the right response to first pray about the situation. Then we marveled how God had answered her prayer! Not only did Peggy put her trust in Jesus, but she also was confident that help was coming!
Advent is the season of preparation as we look forward to celebrating the birth of our Savior. God knew that we needed help to save us from our sin, so He designed the perfect plan to send us His Son to be our Savior. So many facets of Christmas require thought and time, but nothing is more important than preparing our hearts for the true reason of the season and focusing on the birth of our Savior. As we begin this season of Advent, may we learn from Peggy! Let’s keep our eyes on Jesus and confidently await His arrival.
Blessings on your Advent season as you focus on God's beautiful love story of sending His Son Jesus to be our Savior!
In His Love,
Mrs. Palka