But for the Grace of God

Last night, while driving back from the south of Cebu island where I had visited the CSC kids at camp, I almost hit three women who were standing in the middle of the road. It was very dark, there were bright headlights in my eyes, and I didn't see them until it was almost too late. I swerved and barely missed them.

This morning when I woke up I thought about how different my life would be today if I had hit them. Almost certainly they would have been killed. I would have been put in jail until the police could determine fault, and it is fairly likely that, even though they were in the road in the dark, I would have been blamed. So, aside from the huge emotional blow of having hit and killed three people, I would have needed to pay a huge amount of money. My life would have been turned upside down. I would have a terrible memory to live with for the rest of my life. My life, my family and the ministry of CSC would have been affected significantly, not to mention the families of those women. I am so very thankful that I didn't hit them!

I think its true that our lives are full of "close call" experiences, choices and events that, had they gone a different way, would have changed the direction and quality of our lives or those of other people. Maybe it was a fork in the road where you needed to make a decision about your future, like taking a job, entering a relationship or making a change. Maybe it was something small, like choosing a class in college that opened up your mind to information or challenges that led you to choose a particular career. Maybe it was a bad choice that you avoided, something that would have dragged you down or put you on a path of misery. Perhaps it was a near miss like my experience on the road last night. Or it could be that something bad did happen, and we think about how much better our lives would be if it hadn't.

I wonder about why God chooses to intervene sometimes, and other times He does not. I guess its similar to the question that is raised in the song "God Help the Outcasts" in the Hunchback of Notre Dame:

I don't know if there's a reason

Why some are blessed, some not

Why the few You seem to favor

They fear us, flee us, try not to see us.

I'm not sure that I'll ever get an answer to the whys of this question. One part of dealing with this dilemma is to be thankful to God for the things He did spare us, and for the grace He gives to help deal with difficult things that do happen, whether they are of our own making or not. The second part is developing our compassion and grace in relating to those who have to deal with the results of tragedies. The key is to remember, with D. L. Moody, the reality that that person, but for the grace of God, is me.

Viola

I have been thinking about Immanuel lately. We use that name a lot during the Advent season, in our scripture readings and Christmas carols. We think of the amazing way that God revealed himself and his presence and nearness through the incarnation. I was thinking, too, of the message of Immanuel that Jesus gave us at the end of his earthly ministry when He proclaimed, "I am with you always, even to the end of the earth."

There are other manifestations of Immanuel that we experience regularly. God is near to us in the lives and needs of those around us. The story of the sheep and the goats in Matthew 25: 31ff shows us that in feeding the hungry and in visiting the sick and lonely, we are experiencing Christ. In the Philippines we feel this closeness in daily ways as we reach out to the homeless children that need a place to live and people to love them. We see the face of Jesus in their faces, and it is a great comfort and blessing to us.

But there are other ways that God reveals himself, his nature and his closeness to us. We see him in the lives of saintly people around us. We experience him in community. Yesterday I learned that Viola Carlson, a pillar of our church and one of the finest persons I have ever known, passed away. I think she was 92. She was kind, loving, supportive and faithful. She would come up to me in the church lobby and ask a question about one of our children whom she had been praying for. She wanted updates and reports of answered prayer. She was a pillar of CSC, too, bringing our ministry to the throne of grace regularly. In her life we experienced the nearness of God. Immanuel.

2011

I know that many people are glad that 2011 is gone. They had a bad year and are hoping that 2012 will be better. Many people lost their jobs, or lost their homes to foreclosure, typhoons, hurricanes, tsunamis and earthquakes. As I was working on CSC's year-end video with highlights of the past year, I did some searches on the top news stories of 2011 and the results were pretty grim. Charitable giving, in general, has been fairly stale in America with marginal gains over last year, but 2010 was not a good year for giving. Many churches and ministries continue to struggle financially.

In this climate of economic uncertainty and man made and natural calamities, CSC celebrates 2011. It was a good year for the ministry in many ways. Although there were heartbreaks and emotional issues to deal with, and painful decisions to be made here in Cebu concerning some of our kids, God as here. We placed the most number of kids in our history. Two large sibling groups that have been waiting so long were placed, thanks to legislative initiatives and the heroic work of our Senator Amy Klobuchar. Kids found homes, new ones came in. New staff came on board. Plans were made on our board to improve our organization and position ourselves better for the challenges and opportunities of the future. And, once again, our supporters came through in record fashion, giving generously.

Rather than show charts that compare the number of children served or those placed with last year, or a compartive giving chart, I'll tell about Ginda, and how 2011 was a great year for her. At Christmas time in 2010, Ginda was fighting for her life. She was in the hospital and had been for many weeks. She had surgery and was not doing well. She lost lots of weight and, most notably, her smile was gone. For a while we feared for her life. But 2011 brought lots of improvement for Ginda. She responded to medications. A feeding tube was necessary for her, and she slowly adjusted to that type of nourishment. Ginda began gaining weight. Slowly her smile returned.

Yesterday a group of visitors from Cambridge, MN arrived in Cebu. Some of them had been here before, so they remembered Ginda. As we were eating in the Duterte Home, Ginda was wheeled into the room. Everyone greeted her warmly and she rewarded them with a huge smile. Later her auntie (Ginda requires a personal caregiver) brought out her dollie and her brand new toy cell phone. She and I had a quick cell phone conversation and I reflected on what a huge difference a year had made for Ginda. And for so many of our kids. Her smile is the only reward that the staff needs for all the hours of worry, hospital visitation and medical intervention.