McDonald's: The Longest Hour of My Life

McDonald's. A plastic playground crawling in germs and swimming in carbs. The originator of happiness in a cardboard box and plastic toys that are neatly placed in the circular file as soon as you hit the door.

It's also the place I spent an hour on my knees completely relying on the Lord on Saturday.

Let me back up. Our family is enjoying watching 5 year old soccer Saturday morning. My hubby's phone rings and he answers it.

"Mr. Carbajal? This is Captain E calling from Alaska. Your son, Jade, is in ICU."

"Excuse me? Who is this? What did you say?"

"Your son has some broken bones around his right eye. He is in ICU and we are unaware of the severity of his injuries. Depending on the severity, the Army will fly you and his mom to Alaska. I'll call you in an hour."

"Huh?! OK, I'll wait to hear from you."

I got the gist of the entire conversation as I watched my husband's coffee-colored, sweet face drain of color. He plunked himself down on the grass and repeated all he had been told. My questions flew out of my mouth faster than he could process them.

Even in the midst of potential heartache, the kids' stomachs were rumbling. So where do we go? The loudest, most crowded, most obnoxious place on the face of this God created planet - McDonald's.

We woodenly distributed out nuggets and fries, smiling somewhat blankly at child requests of "more, please!". I checked my watch praying for the minutes to fly by, seconds agonizingly slow. I tried to engage Mario in conversation, tried to get his feelings, gauge his stress level.

I couldn't take another moment perched on the edge of the sticky plastic seat. I marched to the not-so-clean public restroom and hit my knees. I do admit to checking the floor first. It may be shallow but have you ever seen the floor?! Anyway . . .

I spent that time praying, crying out to my Sweet Lord. Begging Him to protect my son's life, his health, his vision, his brain. Asking for a "it looks worse than it really is" prognosis. Asking Him to provide the doctors with wisdom regarding his medical treatment. Praying for a swift recovery.

After all that, I was honestly able to ask the Lord to give each of us a peace that surpasses all understanding, that we would be able to glorify Him in every single moment, and that we would not only accept His will for the situation but that we would be able to inscribe His will upon our hearts.

I walked out of the Ladies' room a different person, a different heart. I have never had to rely on the Lord in that way. I'm 3,000 miles away from my adult son lying alone in an ICU room with unknown injuries. I'm waiting, hanging by my fingernails to hear from Captain E.

I am utterly helpless.

Nothing to plan or control. Nothing to do. Nothing to say.

Just wait. Wait. And wait.

The waiting finally ends. He is OK! No permanent damage. No surgery needed.

Thank you God. Thank you for his health and life. Thank you for Your care and infinite concern for each of us. Thank you for the opportunity to REALLY rely on You with my whole heart surrendered.

Thank YOU for meeting me there in that sticky, icky Ladies' Room.

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7

Niki

Out with the Old, In with the New

Take a moment to enjoy a "transforming" post by Katina Wilkins:

 

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!  2 Corinthians 5:17 

That is one of my favorite verses in the Bible.  There is something really wonderful about being a new creation.  I have this verse over some butterflies I made to decorate my class in Sonshine School.  I put it up after Easter as a reminder of what comes next after Christ died and rose from the dead.  He basically takes us with him.  He offers us an opportunity to die and rise again as a new creation.  Just as the caterpillar wears his birth identity until it’s time for its transformation, we too are born in our natural state.  But once the caterpillar is ready to be transformed and yields to the promise of its Maker, it gets to be transformed into a new creation.  It doesn’t look anything like it did before.  Halleluiah, it gets some wings and a new majestic beauty and has new purpose in this world.  What it could never even think about doing in this world is now open to it. 

As caterpillars, we too are focused on ourselves. We fill our bellies with things that are self serving and satisfying, not even paying attention to the destruction we may leave behind.  This is what we know; this is what we were born to do; this is what we need to do to survive.  Every other caterpillar does that and we don’t know any different.  But when we get transformed by Christ and become new butterflies, our focus changes.  In the process of feeding ourselves, we do God’s work, pollinating others and spreading our joy.  We see the world from a new point of view.  There is so much FREEDOM, that caterpillars could never experience before the transformation or even conceive.  This is the same for us but the biggest difference is that we have a choice to become transformed whereas the caterpillar does not.  He goes through the process naturally. God gave us free will.  We get to choose whether we want to stay a caterpillar or become a butterfly.

Then there is the issue of butterflies who want to act like caterpillars.  Some do this because it is so familiar and comfortable.   We have the ability to fly freely and enjoy the gifts God gave us, but maybe we are scared to use it, or we hang out with other caterpillars we don’t want to leave behind, or maybe we just like the familiar of what we were used to.  Have you ever seen a butterfly in real life just want to stay a caterpillar?  What would you think if you did?  I can say that there are areas in my life that God has so many more plans for me that I would allow Him to activate because I was comfortable being a caterpillar.  My disobedience to the call actually makes me feel worse than a caterpillar; it sometimes feels like I am stuck in the chrysalis.  I can’t go back but going forward is too scary and I fell stuck.  Every time I decide to follow BY FAITH, I have seen the rewards of me doing so.  It is by faith that we follow Christ and it is an EVERY DAY decision. 

So then, if we are a new creation, why do we often still behave like a caterpillar or get stuck in the chrysalis?  Why don’t we become a butterfly and always stay there?  That is a good question.  Every day we have a choice.  God doesn’t override our free will.  We are new creations in Christ in that our old fleshly or natural spirit we are born with gets replaced with the Holy Spirit—direct access to God.  When we accept Christ, we get choices that we never had before.  A caterpillar who hasn’t gone through the process to become a butterfly will remain a caterpillar.  A person who never accepts Christ will always be a natural person, trying to figure out life alone from the perspective of a caterpillar or in our case from the world.  The world’s solutions are very self-centered, self-preserving, and focused on the here and now.  People who do not acknowledge Christ have a pattern of behavior that derive from Adam’s sins, and, on their own, it is impossible to break free.  When we do accept Christ and receive the Holy Spirit we have a whole new avenue and perspective in this world.  We get choices.  The Bible gives us advice straight from our Maker on how He wants us to operate and navigate through this world.  We are not alone.  He gives us freedom to truly be who He created us to be—to make a difference in this world, touching other’s lives, building eternal rewards.  A butterfly has the ability to affect so much more of its surroundings than a caterpillar could ever do.  Just by fluttering it bring happiness to those around it, it creates energy in those trying to chase it, it pollinates plants that would never have the opportunity to touch one another.  In the same way we Christians are built to do the same thing—bring joy, energy, life, unity, help to those far away…the list can go on and on.  It is because the Spirit knows what is needed and uses the body of Christ—us—to show others who He is by doing His work.  We have to choose to let Him use us this way.  We are fully capable, fully equipped, a whole new creation; we just have to have faith to believe in our newly created selves and allow God’s power to work through us.

Who are you going to be today?  A caterpillar?  A butterfly?  Stuck in the chrysalis, uncomfortable but too scared to do anything?  If you have truly accepted Christ as your Savior, rest assured, you are fully empowered, equipped and capable by the Holy Spirit to be a butterfly.  Just rest your faith in Him and be all you were created to be and watch yourself soar!

Katina Wilkins