restoration

My Long-Lost Wallet!

/ pastorpete51 / Leave a comment

Finally, brothers, rejoice. Aim for restoration, comfort one another, agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you. 2 Corinthians 13:10 ESV

It was a Christmas Eve snowstorm, and after eight long hours shoveling off my customers’ sidewalks, I came home, took a hot shower, changed into warm clothes, and lay down for a nap on the sofa. After a little snooze, I awoke remembering that I needed to pick up more sidewalk melt for the following day, but realized to my dismay, that my wallet was missing. I searched the truck, my coat pockets (three times) and even returned to the job site, shoveling through the snow on both sides of the sidewalks in my frenzied attempts. I wasn’t concerned about the seven dollars in my billfold, but replacing my driver’s license, social security card and charge cards was a problem. But after a year passed, I eventually forgot all about that wallet.

The following Christmas, our son, his wife, and our grandchildren came to visit. We had a great time reminiscing over dinner and then after pie and coffee, we moved into the living room to exchange gifts. As always, it was heartwarming seeing the kiddos tearing off the wrapping paper and one by one, brandishing their treasures aloft. After everyone was done, and I headed towards the kitchen to see if there was any pie left, my son called out:

“Hey Dad. There is one more gift here for you.”

“Really?” I asked. “I thought I pulled everything out this morning.” A bit puzzled, I sat down in my recliner while they put a small box on my lap. I noticed everyone smiling strangely and watching me with eager anticipation, but I just shrugged it off and unwrapped the gift paper. After popping open the box, I found that whatever was inside was wrapped in tons of tissue paper. Finally, after pulling off the last layer, I was astonished to see that what fell into my hands was my long-lost wallet! “What!” I shouted as peals of laughter filled the room. “Where in the world did you find it?”

“We found it under the couch cushions this morning.” Our son answered with a huge grin. “Merry Christmas Dad!”

Sometimes we lose things far more valuable than an old wallet. But the apostle Paul, urges us to focus, not on our past losses and failures, but on present restoration. Often that means discovering that we need others to help us find what we have lost and then seeing that they rejoice with us as we unwrap the long-lost treasures of God’s restoring love!

Photo by Viktoriia Kondratiuk on Pexels.com

Rainy Days

/ pastorpete51 / 2 Comments

Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me, for in you my soul takes refuge; in the shadow of your wings I will take refuge, till the storms of destruction pass by. Psalm 57:1 ESV

Some days the hawk sits silently
While the thunder crashes round
And swallows swoop into the barn
Where the chickens huddle down

Tall cranes stand in the rushes
In her house the blue bird sleeps
While the chickadees are twittering
In the thickets dark and deep

But eagles fly up to their nests
When they hear their children cry
And shelter them under their wings
While the rain is passing by

Then why should you and I do less
Who know our place to fly
Up to God our refuge strong
While the storm is passing by

Rainy Days by Peter Caligiuri
Copyright © 2022
All rights reserved




Come!

/ pastorpete51 / 1 Comment

Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money,
come, buy, and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. Isaiah 55:1 NIV

When we lived in the mountains of Northeast Pennsylvania we had two Elkhounds: named Sonya and Thunder. Though they were sisters from the same litter, and looked alike, their personalities were completely different. Thunder loved nothing better than to sit with me and let her ears be scratched, but Sonya was always looking for a chance to escape and would usually entice Thunder to run after her. Late one snowy Winter night, I cracked the front door open to see how much had fallen, when Sonya suddenly shot out between me and the door, with Thunder close behind. “Sonya! Thunder! Come back!” I shouted after them, but rather than turning or even slowing down, they hurried off into the darkness. As Elkhounds I knew they weren’t in any danger from the cold, and since they were ignoring me, I simply shrugged my shoulders, closed the door, flicked off the light and went to bed. In the morning you never saw such a meek couple of puppy-dogs, curled up by our doorway and eager to be let back in.

Sometimes our walk with God looks like that night on the mountain. God loves us to come sit close to Him. He wants nothing more than to care for us and keep us safe in His presence. In today’s verse, He calls to us, “Come all you who are thirsty, come to the waters.” But sometimes our heart longs to run, and when we do God doesn’t chase after us. We think we are getting away with something, but in reality, we are trading a safe warm home for a night in a snowstorm of doubts, fears and false promises. How amazingly good it is that God doesn’t lock His door and vow to never speak to us again. Instead, when we limp home with our feet frozen from the cold, and huddle up outside His door, He calls us again, but this time He says, “Come to me all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest!” Can you hear Him calling? Are you ready to listen to His voice? The moment our heart says, “Yes” we will discover a rest that He paid for on Calvary and the home that He has prepared for us to stay in forever!

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. Matthew 11:28-31 NIV

Photo by Mike Klokov on Pexels.com