Perspective

Southwest Virginia hasn’t seen a winter this cold and snowy for many years. We’ve been having the kind of weather that wreaks havoc with my heating bills and, not to get political, kills the whole global warming argument for me.

Weather like this demands that I change the way I think about everyday living. For instance, if it snows during the night will I be able to get to work in the morning? Will I lose electricity, and if so, how will I stay warm? What will I eat and drink in the interim? Once I have all of the questions answered in my head (Hannah’s jeep until she goes back to Radford…the woodstove and a beautiful load of dry cherry from Larry…canned food and bottled water, or wine if I’ve planned really well), I can rest a little easier. But in spite of the fact that we rarely think about food and shelter most days, it gets down to basics really quickly when the weather gets bad.

Virginians also have short memories, and forget how to drive in snow. The first really bad storm of the season came exactly a week before Christmas and it took me seven hours to make the 25 minute trip from work to home. At one point I’d been stuck on the bridge over the north fork of the Holston River for hours and I was down to less than a quarter of a tank of gas. I had one bar on my cell phone, my windshield wipers had quit working, and I knew the electricity was already off at my house. I was less than 2 miles from home, but it may as well have been 2,000. Eventually I took a leap of faith and made it to our friends’ house, where Hannah was, by taking the river road. I was there for almost 24 hours and can’t remember when I’ve been so thankful for a fire and friendship. You could say it changed my perspective.

On New Year’s Day I had another perspective altering experience, this time the result of a conversation I had with my friend Steve. Regular readers will remember Steve, who bikes around the country witnessing to Jesus’ love and faithfulness to everyone he meets. I’m always a little ashamed of my self-centeredness and the ease with which I take the gifts in my life for granted when I talk with Steve. But it’s never because he makes me feel that way. In fact, he’s always truly glad to hear from me or see me, and, because he loves to talk, he usually fills our conversation with praises to God for blessings I would surely miss…a new bike and cart in which to carry all of his earthly belongings…an extended stay in a shelter in Dalton, Georgia….a network of friends who keep track of him and his travels, and who keep him in their hearts and prayers.

I’m thankful to be in that network, because I have a connection with Steve now and always want to know how he’s doing. But selfishly, I’m also thankful for the perspective knowing him gives me. I have much but am often ungrateful, while he has little, and is always grateful.

So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. – Colossians 2:6-7 (NIV)

Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ… – Colossians 4:2-3 (NIV)

Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our "God is a consuming fire. – Hebrews 12:28-29

Father God, please continue to bless Steve richly, giving him food and shelter in the cold weather, strengthening his faith, opening the door for him to share your message...and Lord, please shake up my perspective anytime you see fit.

Update From the Road

Readers rarely leave comments on my blog, so I was surprised to get one recently about an entry from last August. It was an update concerning my friend Steve, who travels around on his bicycle with a few belongings and a big passion for Jesus. Jenny B. wrote:

hello. i met steve this evening and thought you might like to hear that he is just fine. he is staying in a work trailer (someone has set up), in a church parking lot in dalton, ga. he is still telling everyone he meets about Jesus. what a wonderful witness he is…he (very humbly) showed me a copy of your blog with his pictures.

I’m glad to know Steve is ok, especially since the very day I received this update was colder in Abingdon, Virginia than in Nome, Alaska, according to the local paper. He’s crossed my mind several times, and I’ve wondered how he was making it through the winter. So I’m grateful to Jenny B. for leaving her comment and thankful that our God is so gracious to allow our virtual paths to intersect at another signpost in Steve’s story.

But I also find joy and inspiration in Steve’s continuing witness to the people he meets...not only the people who hear about Jesus for the first time through him, but also the ones like me, who are challenged in their faith through his example. When I think of Steve, I’m reminded of these basic truths:

This life is about people, not things.
This world is not our home.
This hope that we have in Jesus is for life today and life eternal.

Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. ~ Hebrews 11:1 (NIV)

Keep the faith, Steve.