Macy's Blog

Each time I turned the steering wheel,  I could feel the squeak of the tires against the wet asphalt. That chirping sound that speaks of rain-washed pavements,  scrubbed clean by the recent downpour….the petroleum residue safely rinsed away.  We crested the big hill above the river, and passed the school. We had navigated that quirky corner where our ‘Strasse’ joins the main road,  and were loping down ‘The Home Stretch’….when it came.  Hurtling out of a back alley….it came.  Long and low and shiny and black, as  ’Shiny-and-Black’  as only an expensive BMW sedan can be.  The thing was upon us….and as that strange ‘stop-motion’ sequence of events paraded itself before me….I retained but one clear image….an enormous pair of glasses. Lenses like the bottoms of coke-bottles, frames of dark plastic surmounted by bushy gray eyebrows….and the eyes they magnified….you could see the whites all around them,  you could see the abrupt realization in them,  as they gauged the rapidly diminishing distance between us,  dreading the impact so obviously to come.  I could almost read the words forming in the brain behind those old and terrified eyes: “Mein Gott!!“.  Not even time to utter them….

And yet,  In that same instant,  brakes were applied,  feet slammed onto precisely engineered German pedals,  old sinews pressed into service responded with an amazing vigor  ( creaking joints no doubt, singing a painful harmony! )  and the late-model Juggernaut of  well-waxed doom slid to a halt ( on the aforementioned ‘Squeaky-Clean’ blacktop )  a mere hands breadth from our van.  The old couple were gripping the steering wheel and dashboard respectively….their eyes gripped ours in sick relief!! “How very fortunate!!” They cried.
(  Personally,  I think the ‘Squeaky-clean’ asphalt just gave the angel better traction for his sandals. )

The bible tells us that there are angels placed about us, whose concern for our welfare never ceases.  They are guardians placed there for our good.  A gracious God directs them upon their appointed rounds.  Intimately aware of our various perils,  He causes the hearts of His saints to pray….and then answers those prompted prayers! He is sovereign,  and therefore orchestratesevery last detail of His creation, in all its permutations!!  Such a wonder that we are allowed to be so involved in the workings of God’s mysteries!
(  Personally,  I think the ‘Squeaky-clean’ asphalt just gave the angel better traction for his sandals. )

“For He will command His angels concerning you, to guard you in all your ways.”

Dawn breaks hard and fast,  like some ice-hockey thug with a specific victim in his sights.  The alarm shrieks at me,  crawling from bed I grope towards the kitchen….and the coffee pot!  Our daughter mercy grouses a bit,  ( She always does! )  but she rises none-the-less to embrace the morning.  Son Zion leaps from his bed,  and,  carving a ‘move‘ in the air,   lands in the classic super-hero three-point stance,  Amberlea  commentedfavorably on his form.  (  I had to admit…it was stylishly done! )  The glare is NOT my friend,  I squint to avoid the harsh morning light,  a spectrum which,  like an ice-pick,  inevitably finds the right fissure in my optics….and short-circuits the ‘ol frontal lobes. Frankly….I am not at my best.  Back-packs are staged,  lunches are made,  breakfast is doled out to yawning children. “We can do this!”  I growl,  ”We’ve done it a thousand times before!” Amberlea is amused….I,  am not.

Christmas, the year of our Lord,  nineteen hundred and ninety four.  My life was a wasteland.  It was crowed with the wreckage of crime and violence,  of broken marriages….fueled by enough illegal chemicals to hospitalize a battalion of Marines….and oh, but it was empty!  My mother had called to announce that,  after years of study ( and piles of money! ) “…your little sister has quit chiropractic college to become a missionary!”  (  What could Mindy be thinking??  )  ”Fear not mother!”  I said,  ”We  meet in Seattle for Christmas…and I will use this opportunity to bring young Mindy to her senses!”  I wasn’t worried,  I had guile and cunning in my quiver,  and,  if necessary,  the leverage of  ’Eldest Child‘  status to draw upon…I would  ( I assured myself )  soon deal with the errant daughter!  I had,  however,  failed to factor in Mindy’s church.  All two hundred and fifty of them….praying and fasting for one Michael Llew Macy.

I met Mom,  my brother Jonathan and  ’little-Mindy’  at the Seattle/Tacoma airport.  Bolstered by substantial amounts of intoxicants,  I suggested  ( with a wink-and-a-nod to mother and brother )  that they take the rental car…and leave Mindy to me  ( BWU-HA-HA-HA! )  Mindy and I climbed into my pick-up and headed out of the airport.  ’No need to dance-about’   I thought to myself,  Lets just get right down to the bone, shall we!  ”So…Min”  I said  ( No words were ever uttered with more devastating  ‘nonchalance’  than these were! )  ”Mom informs me that you’ve become a religious fanatic.”
“Oh no mike…” says Mindy, gently patting my arm,  ”I’m not a religious fanatic….I’m a ‘fundamentalist-bible-thumping-Jesus-freak’….and YOU are a self-serving pile of phlegm,  and have been for the last twenty five years. Jesus bought you with His blood Mike….isn’t it time you gave yourself to Him?”

I remember that small,  still voice,  ringing so loudly in my mind.  The Spirit said: “Last call Mike.“  Something hard and brittle broke inside me. Years of sin and sorrow sloughed off me,  leaving me new and un-stained….and the tears suddenly streamed down my face,  blinding me.  Laughing and crying,  I found myself using all four lanes of I-5.  Mindy asked quietly:  ”Can I pray for you?”

Ten minutes later I was standing at the register,  the biggest bible I could find sitting upon the counter.  As I inquired about the clerk’s salvation,  I felt Mindy’s hand once more upon my arm.  ”This is a Christian book store Mike….I’m betting she’s probably saved.”  The girl nodded,  grinning.  I turned to the line of customers behind me:  ”So…you all know Jesus then?” More nods,  more grinning.  Mindy shook her head and chuckled.

We drove to the house on Camano Island,  God’s glory surrounded us,  His joy flooding our hearts.  Mom and Jon came out to meet us in the driveway….it wasn’t quite what they had expected.

“What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it?”

Luke 15:4

Mike, Amber, Mercy and Zion Macy