Good evening, friends!

This topic has been on my mind for a couple of weeks now but with the remembrances of Labor Day, followed by the 11th anniversary of 9/11, and then some of the atrocities taking place against some of our own in the Middle East, I’ve had a difficult time finding a place to present this topic.  Tonight I realized yet again that the time may never be right – and I ought to write whatever was on my mind.  I do so with one caveat that I’ll disclose at the end of this note.

It’s hit me lately that the notion of providence is very real and very alive.  It is a person’s awareness of such providence that may make it seem more or less real on an individual basis.  In my previous post, I talked of how my minister at church caught my attention with a quote from a news article titled “Coveting Luke’s Faith.”  At the time I posted that blog, I had only a minor indication of providence at work in my own life.

What is providence?

According to Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary, providence is defined as divine guidance or care.  Typically capitalized, Providence refers to a state that is God conceived – as power sustaining and guiding human destiny.

Heavy stuff, huh?  Let me tell you how I boil it down for my own simple mind.  If you’re wondering about those coincidences that pass by you…and wonder if there’s something to them…you’re right.  That is to say, if you believe in Providence – there’s most certainly a reason behind them.

Another coincidence occured the next morning as I was out on my jog.  I’m new to this neighborhood but occasionally recognize a familiar face.  This particular morning, I noticed a lady I’d seen before walking her black lab puppy.  Later I realized she was a neighbor of mine because both of our walks seemed to terminate in our same block.  As I approached, I noticed her talking with another neighbor…and there was that cute lab.  The dog was so excited as I approached…but very well-behaved.  With each step I took towards my house (and also towards the puppy), the tail wagged harder practically propelling the puppy my direction.  Only one house away and that dog had nearly crossed an entire yard all the while in a seated position.  The owner noticed and called to her dog, “LUKE!  Get over here!”

There was that name again…Luke.

I’m in a business networking group that meets at lunch on Wednesdays.  One of my favorite friends in the group is somebody I’ve known since we were children.  Her family attended the same church I grew up in and we’ve had fun reconnecting and each attempting to grow our businesses.  She announced to the group, two days after my morning reminder from my jog, that she’d be taking leave from the group while having her second child.  You already guessed it…her son-to-be was to be named Luke.

Providence continued when I was home a couple of nights later watching some TV with the kiddos.  I rarely pay attention to commercials…but one stood out to me because it grabbed at my heart about how quickly my own kids are aging.  It was a Time Warner Cable commercial that followed a mother and father as they tracked the progress of their son from birth, to childhood, to science fair contestant, to high school football player, and in the final scene, they watch him walk off into his dorm room.  The couple is seen throughout the commercial doing what most of us parents try to do – grabbing digital photos and creating our online photo albums so we can hang on to these moments.  As if I needed another reminder, there on the screen was this commercial couple’s son’s album – his name…Luke.

You see, I’ve got a very special Luke story of my own.  I mentioned in a previous note that my son has learning challenges.  As hard as I ride him sometimes, I won’t let anyone look or say anything to him without bristling up as his big protector.  Fortunately, the school is filled with kiddos whose parents feel the exact same way.  One particular boy stood out to me since my own son’s first day at that school.  I came to learn over the past year that this boy was also named Luke.

What was interesting was how parallel my son and this boy were – yet they’re separated by 2 years in terms of school grade.  Both seem destined to be video game designers, both are somewhat enamored by monsters, both have little interest in sports, and both are unbelievably creative.  By the same token, both are a little stuck sometimes in their own world…both have a difficult time transitioning from one thing to another…and both can cause a scene like nobody’s business.  Oh yeah, and both would prefer to be in pajamas all day than anything else – although I think that’s pretty normal myself!

It hit me as I watched that commercial…what is the Providence behind these constant reminders of Luke?  As I watched the Time Warner Cable commercial, it hit me…they’re showing stages of life – how do we measure our own stages?  By age.  I looked up my own Luke’s birthday and found it was September 5.  “9/5,” I thought.  I ran to my office and pulled down my Bible.  Opening to Luke 9:5, I smiled at this verse:  “If people do not welcome you, shake the dust off your feet as you leave their town, as a testimony against them.”

Why did I smile?  Pretty easy really…I’ve spent so much energy protecting my son and his learning difference that I tended to take everything very personally.  If people wanted to say he had something wrong, I wanted to respond that they had more wrong.  I wanted people to understand…to know that he is very smart…very creative…and yeah, sometimes a little stuck.  But he’s no monster.  I’ve let these conversations and dark clouds hang over me from all the schools we’ve bounced around from since he was in preschool.  This father’s protection was too strong to allow for what my son needed most…love.  Love is all he needs.  Love is really all any of us need.  Sure…food, shelter, water…basic necessities…I get it.  Without love we die…we wither.  I spent so much time angry at people’s summation of what my son was or wasn’t – time I thought I was showing love for him – that I actually neglected to love him properly.

Shake the dust off my feet…as a testimony against them.

In other words…Tim…let it go.

It was an interesting story of Providence that led me to that finding.  I’ve got a strong feeling God’s been trying to get through to me on this one for quite some time…and were it not for a really great boy named Luke, I may not have heard God coming at me from this particular angle.

You all know that I love using music to define many of the emotional highs and lows of my life.  One song that stuck out consistently during this time was Matchbox Twenty’s “Real World”.  The lyrics are below…and I hope you’ll read along.  I tend to sing this song as I imagine what it’s like to be in my kids’ shoes.  All the things we wonder…all the things we dream of…all the hopes we have for a time somewhere down the road.  I love dreams…and dreaming.  The line repeated so often in this song is “I wish the real world would just stop hasseling me”.  That’s the protector in me…I want my kids to have dreams…and to get the joy of pursuing whatever dreams they imagine.  Not my dreams…their dreams!  I love watching the stories of people accomplishing goals, of knocking things off their proverbial bucket lists…of seeing dreams come true.

You wanna see your dreams come true?  Step 1…dream.  Step 2…watch as Providence reveals itself in your life every day.  Step 3…watch as you achieve those dreams.  It’s really pretty simple.

Now the caveat I promised.  I fully realize the lives lost on 9/11, and in other horrific tragedies around the world, and in just plain everyday living were probably lives interrupted in the process of achieving their dreams.  I don’t intend to make light of that.  I don’t intend to deny that very real possibility.  But that is a possibility for each and every one of us.  I know I could die before hitting the publish button on this post.  And someone would see this written on my screen and just scratch their head at the timing of it all.  I guess here’s my opinion on that…if life truly is as fragile as we all say it is, then why not set out every day to achieve as much as you can towards your hopes and dreams?  We obviously won’t have that opportunity when our hearts stop beating.  Don’t waste another minute…go after those dreams…NOW!

The song bridges:  “Please don’t change.  Please don’t break.  Oh the only thing that seems to work at all is you.   Please don’t change at all from me, to you…and you, to me.”  To my family…to all my friends…to those I hold so close in my heart…please – don’t change.  Please don’t break.  Sometimes the only thing that seems “to work” in this crazy world is YOU.  Keep being you…and keep chasing dreams.  You’ll find me out there chasing mine.

Blessings to you all

Tim

Matchbox Twenty’s “Real World”

I wonder what it’s like to be the rainmaker
I wonder what it’s like to know that I make the rain
I’d store it in boxes with little yellow tags on everyone
And you can come see them when I’m…done, when I’m done

I wonder what it’s like to be a super hero
I wonder where I’d go if I could fly around downtown
From some other planet, I get this funky high on yellow sun
Boy I bet my friends will all be…stunned, they’re stunned

Straight up, what did you hope to learn about here
If I were someone else, would this all fall apart
Strange, where were you, when we started this gig,
I wish the real world, would just stop hassling me

I wonder what it’s like to be the head honcho
I wonder what I’d do if they all did just what I said
I’d shout out an order, I think we’re out of this man get me some
Boy don’t make me wanna change my…tone, my tone

Straight up, what did you hope to learn about here
If I were someone else, would this all fall apart
Strange, where were you, when we started this gig,
I wish the real world, would just stop hassling me

Please don’t change, please don’t break
The only thing that seems to work at all is you
Please don’t change, at all from me
To you, and you to me