Many years ago when our youngest daughter Susanne was learning to drive, I was out with her at the wheel one day when we turned down Devonshire. It just happened to be one of those miserable hot days in Hemet where you could probably fry an egg on the sidewalk. About a block down the street I noticed an olive tree on fire. I glanced to the opposite side of the road and saw a man siting in his car, window rolled down, just staring at the flames. Further on down I saw a lady running to the door of a home - no cell phones back then - I thought she was probably calling the fire department.
Don’t you just love your brain?! I think it’s absolutely about the best thing God invented when He made us! Such a brilliant idea. And I believe He wants us to use it to be out-of-the-box creative whenever and however possible.
Growing up I was totally blessed with two of the most amazing grandmothers any kid could ever hope or ask for- GramE and GramO - ‘E’ for Ella and ‘O’ for Okla. While Ella is a name you are probably familiar with, Okla may be off the beaten path a bit and the actual story of her name is pretty unconventional as well.
The year is 1974 and Richard Nixon is President of the United States and then not President of the United States. The Symbionese Liberation Army kidnaps Patty Hearst in Berkeley, CA. Robert Preston, a disgruntled U.S. Army private, buzzes the White House in a stolen helicopter, and the “Rumble in the Jungle” boxing match between Ali and Foreman takes place in Zaire. It’s also the year Bob and I moved to the Hemet Valley to run a juvenile facility out in Castile Canyon, behind the Soboba Indian Reservation.
Almost any ol’ Sunday school kid worth their salt will remember the story of Peter walking on the water! It’s really an amazing narrative. I recently looked up some artists portrayals of this event and noticed something a bit “off” with many of the pictures. Peter was there all right, walking from the boat to Jesus in the middle of a storm, but the water was only slightly choppy - almost calm.