I look for them every year; you know?
Those glorious impossibles.
Those things that only God could pull off; the impossible things that you think would never happen in a million years; yet they do.
Sometimes they are easy to recognize.
THE FIRST ONE FOR THIS YEAR
Glorious Impossible No. 1 for 2020 was easy for me to recognize. It happened as I was shopping for groceries to take home to make dinner after work. I received a ring on my cell phone and my husband was on the other side of it. He sounded vague and disoriented. “You need to come get me; I’ve been in a bad wreck.”
My heart froze. I stopped right in the middle of buying groceries and rushed to the destination he had described. I slowly eased my way through the long line of traffic that was being detoured until I saw his truck which had been sandwiched between two other vehicles. Someone had hit him from behind causing a chain reaction of crunches in the traffic. He became the middle of the Oreo cookie.
The camper top that is held down with big huge bolts lay three car lengths behind his truck that was crunched from both ends. His windows were broken, and finally I spotted him on the side of the road; holding a cloth over his bleeding head.
When I got to him he needed to go to the emergency room. He was so sore he could hardly walk. Obviously, he had problems with a rib that the seatbelt had tightened around. They later called it a contusion. Under his neck was a hematoma that was turning an ugly purple color, but mostly; he was bleeding from three different places on his head. Glass was all in his hair. His glasses were lost and could not be found.
We gave all the info needed to the policeman directing the traffic and three people approached us stating that they had given a witness report stating that the accident was definitely not my husband’s fault.
I asked the policeman why an ambulance had not been called and he just shook his head. “Ma’am; I DID call one; but it hasn’t arrived yet.”
At that remark I put my husband inside my own vehicle and headed to the emergency room.
We were told to take a seat and we would be waited on as soon as possible. I pointed out the fact that he was bleeding all over their floor and their chair but my comment was ignored and they didn’t seem to comprehend English. It took about an hour of watching him lose more and more blood before I complained again and they finally sent us on to triage.
We were relieved to leave that main lobby for other reasons too.
People with COVID 19; or suspects of such were supposed to be in a separate waiting room, but they were wandering all around us. Some of them had no masks and they were coughing and sneezing and one guy was holding his stomach as if he was about to throw up all over the waiting room.
We had on masks; but I didn’t like being there at all.
In triage they took care of the bleeding. They wrapped his head and sent us back to the waiting room where we were stuck until 2 a.m. In between the hours of 7 p.m. and 2 a.m. they did a cat-scan and a chest x-ray and a doctor looked at his knee that was hurting.
Finally we were released and told to keep ice packs on the bruises and for him to rest for a few days until he felt like moving again.
A few days turned into a week and several other doctor visits. Finally he was able to go back to work; but we both had to car-pool as we had not had any time to look for another vehicle and were told that the truck he was driving was most likely totaled. That meant me going in to my office very early, and him waiting in the parking lot for a few hours after he got off work while I worked.
I guess you are wondering where the glorious impossible is in this?
He was alive!
I think this is the second year I’ve said that as a glorious impossible.
Re-runs are not fun, and I don’t want one next year!
I hope we can get through next Christmas season without some type of catastrophe; but they do seem to happen when they are least expected.
I’m thankful that he survived and has now recovered and we have found him a much-too-expensive new ride, which wasn’t an established plan in our budget at all. There went my retirement nest egg; but we DID have it; so I am grateful.
Sometimes your “glorious impossibles” feel more like survival training!
A few days after he went back to work; someone that he sat next to in a meeting came down with COVID. Another week off work and a COVID test became added to our daily schedule.
Have you ever filled out the paperwork for one of those test? It is like taking an exam to exit college with a master’s degree. You have to give them pages and pages of your life history and then they charge you $200. You go to the appointment that they insisted be done by computer only and when you arrive they ask you to give them all of the same information all over again.
You sit there for a few hours waiting on your test and you are eventually told to go home and wait for the doctor to call you and tell you when to come back in again for your test.
He couldn’t believe the ridiculous and inconvenient procedures the first doctor’s office we contacted were putting him through. After waiting at home for a few hours on a doctor to call, he called around to talk to some people who had not experienced so much trouble and then got human resources from his work involved. They sent him to a place that was different and free. They actually tested him while he was there. Who would have known though if he had not called?
After missing a week from work in a very busy time when he had already had to be out for medical reasons; his test came back negative and he got to go back to work.
The glorious impossible?
He didn’t have COVID.
That would not have been good for a heart patient; and I would have had to endure the stay at home too, simply because we were married. Like I said; this year some of the glorious impossibles have come in the form of “survival 101.”
Our nation has been a total wreck since before the presidential election this year. We all have felt a terrible culture shift and no one is looking forward to the future that might come of it.
FINDING CONTENTMENT
Fortunately; long ago, I studied the life of Paul. He is famous for saying “I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need.” (Phil 4:11-12)
When I look over all of my Glorious Impossible articles; I see the same; years of plenty and years of pain; but God in every situation and me coming through with a more grateful heart than I ever expected to have.
About 40 years ago I read this verse about Paul’s life and realized its profound truth. I made it my life’s verse too; and this verse has sustained me in those hard and trying times of this past year, when the glorious impossibles were just a bit harder to come by.
SOME ARE OBVIOUS AND SOME ARE NOT
Sometimes the glorious impossibles are just hidden, and we have to dig around to bring them back to life and remember them.
Sometimes they are very obvious though. Glorious Impossible No. 2 was that way for us.
GLORIOUS IMPOSSIBLE TWO – MEETING BECKHAM
In January and before the pandemic even existed; we welcomed a beautiful new grandson. His birthday was actually in December; but we didn’t make our visit until January. We went to see him and spent several days just gazing into his sweet little face.
I also remember some very perfect moments during that trip of making Christmas cookies with the three other grands while we were there.
Meeting Beckham was the highlight of the whole year. At least it started out perfect!
Beckham was definitely a wonderful glorious impossible!
His moments surely shone out from the other things that were the harder; less obvious glorious impossibles.
COMPARING OUR TROUBLES TO PAUL’S
In the midst of the accident and loss of our vehicle, the loss of several weeks of work and the struggle to car pool again (we had done it too many times in the past) I stopped and considered that old verse again.
I closed my eyes and thought about how little our situation looked next to Paul’s beatings, imprisonments, trials and mistreatments. He had endured a wreck too; only his was a ship wreck and he had been thrown overboard to the sharks! My situation was already looking easier; and this comforted me.
Paul and I had something in common. Through every trial we endured; we had Jesus right by our sides. What a privilege it was to consider that He had never left us or forsaken us. He calmed our spirits, gave us hope and helped us do what we needed to do to get back on track. In no time at all the pages of time were turning a different way, and I was left pondering the sweet memories of the rest of the year.
The verse from Paul uncluttered my mind and my memory became balanced again. I almost feel guilty to tell you about all the blessings I began to recall and recount in the middle of our nation going through so many national calamities.
The nation might be in turmoil; but the home courts felt the presence of God and we had so many clear days with smooth sailing. Nothing was taken for granted and we knew it could change at any moment; but we were grateful!
GLORIOUS IMPOSSIBLE NUMBER THREE – TRIP WITH ERIN AND ALEX
In the middle of 2020, around Memorial Day weekend, we took a little trip to Tuscumbia, Alabama with our daughter and her significant other. This blessing is what I consider to be Glorious Impossible No. three.
They drove us to a charming BNB where we walked through beautiful gardens and ate outside by a lovely pool where later we all indulged in a swim under the moonlight.
The next day was followed by one adventure after another; a music recording studio with very interesting history, a cave that had been turned into a restaurant where we all ate lunch, and a long hike through some very beautiful caverns. It was a perfect little get-away, and it set our minds at peace as we lasted through the hours of our normal work schedules and dealt with 2020 real life afterwards.
LITERARY BLESSINGS AND GLORIOUS IMPOSSIBLE NUMBER FOUR
On that trip Alex introduced me to an author named Seth Godin. What a blessing that was! I’m going to claim this discovery as Glorious Impossible No. Four. Seth Godin is into marketing which I have been studying; but more than that I simply like pondering the things he thinks about.
I would call him a philosopher. He says “the best way forward is to recognize it and commit to it.” “It” being the best way forward. How very encouraging to hear those words in a year like 2020 and stop to realize that a pandemic may be happening, economic upheaval may be in progress, and political actions may not favor your world at all; but you can still move forward. You just have to consider the best way to go and then decide to go there.
Something tells me that Seth Godin and The Apostle Paul knew a lot of the same things.
If it seems odd to you that rediscovering Paul after so many years and first discovering Seth made my list of “glorious impossibles” for this year; it shouldn’t. Surrounding yourself with positive people who make you think and encourage you to keep on keeping on is important in this day and age.
Anything that will help us to think beyond our despair and get us to the place of hope is a great “glorious impossible.”
PUBLISHING MY FIRST BOOK
I suppose all of this positivity in the midst of so much negativity helped me to achieve the next Glorious Impossible No. Five. I published my first book!
My lifetime dream to become a recognized author had been growing; until finally one day I decided to trust myself and go for it.
The Gospel Hidden in Genesis came rolling off the press. Soon I was holding the first copy in my hands and thanking God for helping me to get it published.
Now I’m working on Book Two.
There is nothing like receiving that very first royalty check (be it ever so small or great!)
One life-long dream achieved!
Right in the middle of a pandemic.
Nothing is impossible with God who makes things gloriously possible.
It reminds me of another quote of Seth Godin’s; “be paranoid about mediocrity.”
I was.
My desire was to give my best effort and I did. One little book for mankind; one giant step of hope for Gail’s future! This was one of my happiest Glorious Impossibles; next to Beckham’s birth; probably the happiest of all.
And the year was only half over.
HAVING TEA WITH CHRISTIN AND MOM
Until Fall arrived almost all of our free time was spent working but occasionally life was still full with little visits and fun activities here and there, often when we least expected them.
One such fun day was spent with one of our daughters, and my mother when Christin invited us to go to tea with her. We visited an old antique tea room and tasted delicious and delicate food for several hours. It was such a change of pace from the normal pandemic mode-of-life that consisted mostly of masked grocery shopping and starring at the four walls.
You never know how much you lighten up someone’s day when you invite them out for a fun treat. I would call this another Glorious Impossible No. 6. It was a short escape from the harsh reality of the culture around us and the negativity that we were constantly bombarded with in our normal environment.
THE FEAST OF TABERNCLES – GLORIOUS IMPOSSIBLE NUMBER SEVEN
Glorious Impossible No. 7 is one of my favorites to talk about. It was such a cherished memory. Every single moment of our annual Feast of Tabernacles trip was amazing.
I guess no glorious impossible seemed more poured from Heaven than this one.
We had tried to get our favorite house in a little North Carolina town that we loved and it was already booked. We found another one that seemed to fit our extended family just perfectly, but we had no idea how perfect it was going to turn out to be.
That place was so comfortable; so peaceful, so entertaining for everyone and so cozy that we could hardly get everyone to want to leave the property to go anywhere else on the trip.
There was a river running through the backyard, and a lovely little pier to fish from. We could sit in our rocking chairs and drink our coffee in the mornings while listening to the river flow beneath us. Every day we could bask in the lovely scenery from our own back porch deck.
The barn even had attached separate sleeping quarters big enough for a whole family with a full bath and the downstairs of that area had pool tables and corn hole games for entertainment. That was just the barn. The main house was perfect too.
There was a fire-pit which was all set up for campfires near the river, and we roasted marshmallows and made some-mores as we watched the fires blaze.
Everyone had their own little space; yet we all were together.
We all took turns cooking, and there was a grill outside which was put to good use.
The little mountain town was picturesque and full of cute boutiques and gift shops. We found a few restaurants that were open in spite of the pandemic. The location was just down the road from horses, pumpkin patches and several waterfalls and hiking trails.
Nothing could have been better.
God met us there.
We all were blessed and carried home great memories.
SO MUCH TO BE THANKFUL FOR – GLORIOUS IMPOSSIBLE NUMBER 7
I didn’t think we could top this last experience at The Feast of Tabernacles any time soon; but the whole family gathered a few weeks later for Thanksgiving, despite the public warnings not to.
I’m so glad we did; everyone was safe, several of us used masks and we ate six feet apart; but we shared a delicious Thanksgiving feast and the grandkids were once again enjoying each other’s company.
They discovered that our maple tree planted right after we first moved into our home (many, many years ago) was now big enough to be a climbing tree. I have photos of the grandkids all hanging from the limbs of the trees in our front yard like monkeys. The beautiful fall foliage surrounded us and painted the memories we shared.
Another perfect day and another perfect memory – Glorious Impossible No. 7. We offered up sincere thanks that day; no one felt sad or panicked; all was right with the world.
CELEBRATING THE CONCEPTION OF CHRIST – THE MOST IMPORTANT GLORIOUS IMPOSSIBLE OF ALL
Glorious Impossible No. 8 would have to be our Christmas celebration. Unfortunately two of our family units were taking their turns with COVID. We hated to celebrate without them and part of this glorious impossible is that everyone had mild symptoms and survived it all without complications.
Those of us who were well gathered and had a small intimate Christmas Eve dinner. My Mom came by herself for lunch that day; wanting to avoid the crowd. All went well and all was lovely. We are still basking from the warmth and love.
So; I would say that eight good Glorious Impossibles in the middle of a pandemic is not bad!
LOVING FINDING THE ROSES AMONG THE THORNS OF 2020
There is so much to be thankful for; both the noticeable memories and the unnoticeable lessons in life.
We have learned how to slow down a bit.
No one is ever taken for granted anymore.
We are better at living in the moment of now and realizing that sometimes when we have no expectations; God comes through with much better plans than we could ever imagine.
Here is hoping that your new year in 2021 is amazing and healing.
I pray that all of your family is blessed, and that your success is doubled and that God multiplies what we have to make up for any time or thing that the locust might have eaten in 2020.
For those who have lost loved ones, jobs and those who have encountered stressful situations and struggles this year; I wish you comfort, hope and a renewal of the feeling of joy in the coming year.
May God bless you every one; and don’t forget to stop to notice and count your Glorious Impossibles!
Keep living life inside out and upside down as Jesus did!
GAIL LANDGRAF/Writer/Editor/Publisher via Wordcastle Publications LLC