Jesus House

Recently, the Gospel reading at Mass, told the story of St. Peter and the Apostles in a boat when a storm came up and became extremely dangerous.  Suddenly, they saw someone walking on the water towards them.  St. Peter recognizes Jesus and asks if he could come to him.  Jesus’s answer was direct, “Come.”  When Peter became aware of what was happening around him on the water, he began to sink.  Jesus rescued him, returned him to the boat, and stilled the troubled water and the hearts of the Apostles.

It reminded me of a trip Angela and I took with the kids.  We decided to visit her sister and her family in California.  When my brother heard what we were planning, he suggested that we drive out in his van.  He recently had it worked on and put new brakes and tires on so it was ready to go.  We agreed.  Then we removed the back seat and put in two single mattresses, so anyone who needed it, could sleep.  We also put luggage racks on the roof so that we could have more room in the van.  We decided to leave on Election Day evening after Angie finished working at the poles.

The big day finally arrived and we all were quite excited about going.  I decided to take a nap that afternoon because I was going to drive through the night.  Just before we were ready to leave, a lady from our prayer group showed up at the house.  She was extremely excited and she told me that the Lord gave her a message while praying for me.  “Don’t worry about the tires,” she said.   I thanked her for her prayer, loaded up the kids, and went to pick up Angela.   When I told her about the woman, I added that I wasn’t even thinking about the tires.  With a beautiful smile on her face, Angie said, “Let’s just thank God that she prayed for us.”

So we began our trip.  I drove through the night and at 9:30 in the morning we stopped for breakfast.  Afterwards, Angela drove while I slept in the back.  Around 2 in the afternoon, we stopped at a burger place and I took over the driving.  We reached Wichita, Kansas and stopped at a motel that had a pool.  The kids celebrated getting out of the van by jumping right in!  We got a great night’s sleep (no TV).

We started early the next day around 7:30 a.m., had breakfast, and made great time because Angela had packed lunches and drinks so we didn’t have to stop for lunch.  We arrived at Albuquerque, New Mexico during a great heat wave.  The motel had air conditioning and TV but no pool.  We were directed to a great restaurant where we had a wonderful meal together.
The next morning, the manager of the motel advised us to fill up with gas and ask about a “water bag.”  The man at the station explained that while traveling through the desert in high heat, they strap a water bag in front of the radiator to stop it from overheating.  We had it done.

After we finished our breakfast, we started driving through the desert.  The weather report said “fair and warmer with the present temperature at 110 degrees.”  We were about an hour out of Albuquerque, when I began to hear a noise in the rear of the van.  I asked the kids, “What are you doing  back there?”  They answered that it was not them but said they had been hearing a noise for a while and now it’s getting worse!  I stopped to check it out.  What I found shook me up – both back tires were splitting.  There was only one spare tire.  What was I to do?  All I could think of was hoping a State Trooper would come along so we would be able to get some help.  Angela pointed to a sign ahead that said, “Truck Stop – we can fix anything.”  The tires stayed together long enough for us to make it into the parking area.

I walked into the repair office and told the man what my situation was.  He told me we don’t usually have anything for small trucks and vehicles but I’ll put it up on the rack and see what’s happening.  It sounded like an impossible situation. About an hour later he told me the bad news.  Whoever did the tires put on recaps and all four were breaking apart from the heat.  Normally, I would have to send to the local dealer and try to get tires out here, but GOOD NEWS!  I checked our inventory and there are four steel-belted radial tires here that were ordered and never picked up.  I told him that was an answer to prayer and that the Lord had told a little lady back in Delaware that we didn’t have to worry about the tires.    He got them working on the tires right away.

Two hours later, I went to the office and the owner was there with the mechanic.  They told me to sit down.  The cost for the labor for mounting, aligning, and balancing the tires came to $110, but because the tires were an answer to prayer, they were FREE!

Just as the Lord did with Peter in his troubled times, He was present and helped us in our time of need.  However, there was one difference, He told us before we even began how he was going to minister us.  THANKS BE TO GOD!

Chris Malmgren,
October 19, 2011

At Mass a few Sundays ago the readings really touched me.  In the first reading Solomon is about to become king when he has an encounter with God.  The Lord offers him the choice of having anything he desired.

His selection is a wonderful example for all of us.  He chose wisdom that he might be better able to do God’s will for the people.  Having been raised up to be king was not sufficient in Solomon’s eyes, he realized he needed continuous help from God to be able to accomplish God’s desires as king.  Simply put his choice was GOD!!

In the New Testament readings Jesus speaks of the “pearl of great price” and the “treasure hidden in the field”.  It is been written that the “pearl of great price” is placing a priority on having an intimate relationship with God, and the “hidden treasure” is seeking and finding that which is hidden within you that the Spirit of God wants to reveal.  Jesus continues by saying that you should sell al you have to gain these prizes.

Like Soloman we too are given a choice, to put aside the things we hold as important that might separate us from God and seek after him so that we might follow his plan for us.

The Gospel of Matthew tells us that not everyone who says, Lord, Lord shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but only those who do the will of God.  As John Byers has written:  “You may go to heaven without health, without riches, without learning, without friends, but never without an awareness of the Love of God for all of his creation.”  What do you hold important?  What are your priorities?  On what do you spend the time and money that you have control of?  Reflect upon that and you will come to know what is important to you?  Have you chosen God as the most important treasure in your life?

…Chris Malmgren

I recently read a book entitled “Heaven is for Real” by Todd Burpo.  In the story a 4 year-old boy slips from consciousness during emergency surgery.

Upon his recovery he tells his father that during the operation he had spent three minutes in heaven.  The father was taken aback.  He was a small-town Nebraska pastor and never believed in that kind of experience.  So he decided to test the young boy by asking him to share some of what happened while he was in heaven.  Everything he shared was beyond the capabilities of a 4 year-old.  One story in particular was when the father asked him was “Did you get frightened when it became dark at night?”  The boy looked at his father and answered “Dad, you should know that there is no darkness in heaven.  ‘God is all light and Jesus is a lamp unto our feet.’”  The father realized the truth and wisdom the boy shared.

This took me back to when my 4 year-old daughter woke me up at 2:10 in the morning and told me that I had to pray for John Elison.  I looked at her and asked why.  She told me that the blue lady told her to tell me.  Then she turned and went back to bed.

By this time Angela was awake, I told her what had happened and we started to pray.  By 2:15 I couldn’t stand it any longer, so I told Angela no matter what the time, I was calling John to find out how he was.

When he answered the phone, I could tell I had awakened John.  He told me he was fine, but then he told me to hold on, the other phone was ringing.  He came back on the line a moment later all excited and told me “It’s a miracle.”  At 2:05 his son, John, Jr, who was driving home from college lost control of his car on the interstate and his car overturned, but somehow, the state trooper said he was not hurt and would be able to continue on tomorrow.

Like the father in the story, I could not understand what was happening with my young child until I realized that God used her to show His love and protection for another son, to the amazement of two other fathers.

…Chris Malmgren