In Maine we don’t have cable TV so our TV watching is very limited (fine with us!) Last evening we were trying to catch the news but due to storm interference, that wasn’t an option.  I was packing for a trip (what else is new?) so was looking for a random distraction which turned out to be a rerun of “Last Man Standing” on the only channel available. I actually had never seen this sitcom before but the subject matter caught my attention.

Tim Allen plays the grandfather in the show and in this episode he has succeeded in getting his grandson to leave a safe room in the house which apparently was a place to take shelter in case of an emergency.  A conversation unfolds between the two about God and grampa reassures his grandson that there is nothing to fear, God protects us. When the child’s father arrives to pick him up, Tim tells his son of the conversation and we learn Tim’s son thinks God is a fairy tale. When the child won’t go home with his dad, the child asks his dad, “Do you believe in God?” When dad explains his belief in some kind of amorphous universal force, the child proclaims, “I’m staying with grampa!!”

This interchange really hit me very personally for several reasons. Weekly I receive a question proposed by my son and daughter-in-law through Storyworth. My answers will become a book Storyworth will produce for their children, my grandchildren. Some weeks the questions are easy  –  “What was your favorite toy as a child?”  “Were your parents strict or lenient?”  “What is your earliest childhood memory? “It’s been so fun to answer these questions that are formulated by my son and his precious wife each week to preserve memories of gramma for their children.

This week, however, the question was,  “What advice would you give to future generations in your family?” Needless to say my answer had multiple levels of response, ultimately ending with the importance of being part of a vibrant faith community with God at the center of your daily lives. The timing of the Storyworth response I had just written about the importance of believing in God as this secular TV show now was playing with this same message caught my attention.

As this truth was stated so “randomly” together in time, I was reminded that just a few weeks earlier I had been visiting my other son and his family. As I was taking a walk with that granddaughter, I was thanking God aloud for the beautiful day.  She asked, “Who’s God?”

All three of these seemingly unrelated events somehow so close in time and message came together in my mind to spur these thoughts to share. . .

I am the first to admit that when I was raising my children God was not front and center in my life. It was survival for so many reasons. We all have our reasons.  In raising my children we were even observant of our Jewish faith and prioritized the important holidays and life events. Yet not until I was so much older did I fully understand the difference it makes to live life as a servant of God. I also didn’t realize how it felt to be loved in that way, unconditionally, completely, accepted with my faults, filled with hope, wanting to share this reality with others. When I was younger I had no idea what this would feel like so my faith life seemed fine at the time. My goals were to raise my children with love, safely, and with hope. I felt God was there, just not integrally involved in the day-to-day.

I didn’t know then that those goals – to be loved, safe, and with hope – result from God’s guidance, whether we realize it or not.  When He orchestrates our days, when He guides us,  we are led to make right choices that result in acts of love, protection, and optimism. When there are the inevitable times of fear, uncertainty, chaos, the feeling of needing a safe room for protection, I have learned that knowing God’s Presence in those times, even when it’s hard to see, is the only answer that provides true safety, true shalom. When we palpably feel His Love, we do not live lives of fear, but rather, can remain hopeful that there is a greater plan, one we may not be able to see at the time, but we know He has our backs.

I was a late learner, but I’m grateful to be able to share these revelations with my children, my grandchildren, my readers. Just as I didn’t know the dimension of God ‘s being through Yeshua until I was able to see it, so too, I didn’t know as a parent then the difference it would have made to trust God more deeply, more intimately.  I felt at that time I had a lot to do to keep my children safe and hopeful (the love part was easy). How blessed those who found Him earlier and are sharing this life changing truth of profoundly trusting God with their children and with anyone who will listen.

God/Yeshua is real no matter what stage we are in life. Daily Scripture reading, regular prayer, and conversations with Him make His closeness a reality. Doing so keeps our relationship, His and mine, yours and His, vibrant. I find myself thanking God so much throughout the day which thought by itself keeps Him in my consciousness, in my life. That intimacy makes all the sometimes craziness around me, whether life spinning out of control or horrible headlines, seem so small next to His greatness. I so often rest in His Arms, feel His shalom. I feel loved, safe, and filled with hope.

He is the perfect Father. We can only try to do our best. Grandparents, share what you know. Parents, hang in there and cleave to Him. All of us, share what you know. Endlessly thank Him for loving us so much.

Shabbat shalom.

Diane