A Father’s Gifts by Pam Payne

Yesterday my daughter gave me a picture of my grandson Jude. I had forgotten all about it. It showed him reaching out to touch a little horny toad. Seeing that picture made me smile in surprise because I remembered how much I loved horny toads. I grew up chasing and catching them as a child in Oklahoma, and had not seen one in over 35 years. That reminder also made me think of the other times God has surprised me with things I will never forget (like a daddy who brings a surprise present home for his little girl but keeps it inside his pocket until the time is just right to pull it out).

The biggest surprise God ever gave me came in the form of whales…

A couple of years ago my husband took me to a bed and breakfast near Carmel to celebrate our anniversary. It was on this trip that went on a whale-watching excursion. I still remember it clearly….

As we waited to board the boat the captain came down to introduce himself and told us that we were in for a real treat. He said that they had not seen whales like this in over 50 years. It had something to do with the way the currents were flowing in this one particular area and how the currents were pushing up food from a deep pocket right where the whales were feeding.

I squeezed Paul’s hand and looked up at him and I am sure what he saw on my face resembled the face of a little girl on Christmas morning, and my heart raced as we boarded the boat.

About forty minutes into our boat ride the captain told us that he just got off the radio with his colleague who was already in the whale space, and that they were seeing even more whales than they had the day before. He then told us to find a spot, settle in, and start looking for the sprays that come from the blowholes. I wiggled my way up to the front of the boat, settled on a wooden plank, and leaned against the railing.

Within minutes we began to see the sprays, and then a huge body would surface and a tail would come out as the whale dove back under the water. Then, a few moments later a giant humpback came out of the water 20 feet in front of me. Its eye was parallel to mine and I could not believe the size of it! Its face was covered with bumps, and I watched it roll onto its back before it dove down, with its huge tail coming up out of the water. The force of it sprayed my face and the seawater mixed with my tears. God’s love was all over me as He reminded me how long I had carried this desire in my heart, and how happy it made Him to give this gift to me.

The captain came over the loudspeaker again and said that although humpbacks were especially playful and curious, he had not seen one get that close to his boat before.

A few minutes later the captain came back on the radio to point out a pair of blue whales about 150 feet in the distance. In his excitement he told us to watch for their sprays and that’s how we would know they were blue whales. Still overwhelmed with awe and overwrought with emotion, I saw the sprays and knew what he was talking about. They were so huge I could hardly believe it! The captain told that these whales mated for life and that the air comes out of their blowholes at 250 MPH!

Because they were so far away, I could not really get a good read on the enormity of them until one of them dove and its tail came out of the water. Wow! Talk about a tail.

The day could have ended right there and I would have been walking on clouds for hours afterward, but God was not finished with me yet. He had one more surprise in his pocket.

As the boat made a final loop and turned to head back to shore, a family of humpbacks, three of them, popped right out of the water 30 feet to my right. They swam along side the boat for several minutes. First their heads would come out, then their backbones as they rippled along in the water and blew air. After a few minutes, they simply dove away and were gone.

I will never forget that whale excursion. Nothing on earth existed in that hour except my Father, His magnificent creation, and me. And that picture, the picture of a Father giving his daughter the desire of her heart, is one I will cherish and remember as long as I live. That is love in its purest and truest form.

Pam Payne is a member of Church on the Mountain, a vibrant community of believers in Crowley Lake. We meet at 9:30 Sunday mornings. Call for more information: 935-4272 or www.ChurchOnTheMountain.org

Perseverance by Paula Friedrichsen

One may go a long way after one is tired.

~ French Proverb ~

There's a story about the California gold rush that tells of two brothers who sold all they had and went prospecting for gold. They discovered a vein of the shining ore, staked a claim, and proceeded to get down to the serious business of getting the gold out of the mine. All went well at first, but then a strange thing happened. The vein of gold ore disappeared. The brothers continued to pick away, but without success. Finally, they gave up in disgust, sold their equipment and claim rights for a few hundred dollars, and went back home.

Now, the man who bought the claim hired an engineer to examine the rock strata of the mine. The engineer advised him to continue digging in the same spot where the former owners had left off. And only three feet deeper, the new owner struck gold! With a little more persistence the two brothers that left would have been millionaires themselves.

“Perseverance” is defined; to persist in anything undertaken; maintain a purpose in spite of difficulty, obstacles, or discouragement; continue steadfastly.

What is the “gold” that you’re pressing toward? What difficult thing are you trying to undertake? Maybe you’re trying to embark on a new career path… Or perhaps you’re attempting to overcome an addiction…. It could be that you are asking God to restore your marriage and you’re doing your best to cooperate with His guidance for your life. It doesn’t really matter what exactly the gold is that you’re digging for—it takes fortitude and perseverance to keep digging.

Perseverance is essential when you’re tempted to give up and call it quits. C.S. Lewis said, “What saves a man is to take a step. Then another step.” When things get difficult I find it helpful to focus on the next step ahead, instead of ruminating about the entire journey in front of me. I just look a bit ahead, ask for God’s help, and keep taking steps in the right direction. Even if I fall, even if I loose momentum, even if I fail, I must keep getting back up and taking steps forward.

The dichotomy about perseverance is that you can’t get perseverance without first being put in a position to need perseverance. It’s “on the job training”, so to speak. Perseverance develops as the Lord allows us to endure difficult circumstances. And it becomes so much easier to persevere in difficulty when we have a proven track record of God’s faithfulness in our lives. We become utterly convinced that He’ll strengthen us, help us, and see us through no matter what.

The really agonizing experiences of my life have deepened my walk with God (and my trust in His goodness) in such a way that I have learned to trust Him, even when I’m suffering. This is perseverance, persistence, and pressing through. It’s digging until you reach the gold.

I have learned to press through to God’s goodness in every situation. To press through (even in the midst of pain, hardship, or distress) to that place of peace I have with God. To press through to receive His healing even when everything around me says to give up. To press through no matter what! You know why? Because He’s worth it. He’s worth my steadfast trust and perseverance—and He’s worth the effort to dig a little deeper until I reach the gold.