Locked in...

The sirens blared, 2, yes, 2 huge fire trucks... too many firemen in full garb for me to even count.  They were really here for me..  Frank calls them "Lucy moments"... you know Lucille Ball, she used to get herself into all kinds of trouble, most often the trouble was fairly innocent.  Mine, too.

My two older girls were in elementary school; someone had a project or something equally as important that needed some mom help to carry it all in.  Mollie was a baby, 9 or 10 months old, always on my hip.  We deposited the two girls and the project and headed back to the car.  We must have been on our way somewhere else, because I clearly remember that I was dressed up a bit, actually had on a skirt... which just adds to the Lucy part of the story.

I quickly clicked Mollie into her car seat (because we were always late to whatever we needed to hurry along to) and as I often did, tossed her the keys.  Our routine would be that I would walk around to the driver's seat, and she would toss the keys toward me to get going.

I was almost to my door, couldn't have been more than a step away, when I heard it... You know, don't you - the click of the doors locking.  How could a 9 month old baby girl press just the right button at just the right time, and more importantly, how was I going to expect that she would press the other button in order to unlock the doors.  L.U.C.Y - so I shouted for Ricky Ricardo, he didn't come.

It was fall, so I was thankful not to have to worry right away about Mollie smothering in the heat, but still my dilemma continued.  There was another young mom who obviously had to help bring in a project for another child who noticed my harried look.  She graciously agreed to "watch" the van while I went in to the office to call Ricky.. I mean Frank.  (Yes, my young friends, this was before cell phones!)   He was out on a job with no way to get in touch with him.

So our thoughtful principal suggested we call 911 - isn't there another option.... how about pop-a-lock...we could wait a few hours...  He reminded that my baby was stuck in the car.  Okay, so we did.  Surely they would just send out one nice police officer who could just pop that door right open, maybe even a bit covertly, no big deal.  Not exactly... that's where the fire trucks came in.

It just got worse.  They didn't come equipped with that thingy that you slide in the window to pop the lock.  Their only answer was to take off one of the back windows, and then have "someone" crawl through the window to grab the keys.  They were firemen, weren't they?  They were trained to crawl in windows.. but NOOOOOO.  The "in charge" fireman gave the order to me... you should climb in because we don't want to scare the baby.  I think I heard some chuckles behind me from the other firemen. 

With as much Lucy grace as I could muster, I hoisted myself through the back window, remember wearing a skirt, and saved the day... and Mollie.  By this time she was understandably upset, so I quickly unbuckled her and comforted her offering as much calmness and peace as I could.

After Jesus' death the disciples were, I assume, in a state of shock and uncertainty.  Like many of us would do, they gathered together in the same room where they had last dined and talked with Jesus.  Comfort in numbers!  Out of fear, out of anxiety, out of uncertainly, maybe even out of habit, they locked the door.  Without much ado and though the door was locked, Jesus simply appeared in the room.

As I use my spiritual imagination to determine the emotional thoughts and the climate of [those in] the room; I see sadness; I see guilt; I see anger; I hear distraught; I hear devastated; I feel heaviness of heart; I feel oppression; I feel pain.  My thinking could go on and on....  What do you see, hear, and feel?

But then... in the midst of it... there is JESUS, gently, kindly uttering, "Peace.... be with you."

Let's be painfully honest, dear friends, if we gathered a bunch of "us" in a room, what would we see, hear and feel?  The list above would likely describe the majority.  I could list the reasons here for the pain, the guilt, the oppression, but the reasons aren't the point, are they?

The point is...In the midst of it... there is JESUS.  He is offering to each of us, every single day, HIS peace... HIs words:

"Peace I leave with you; My [own] peace I now give and bequeath to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid." [Stop allowing yourselves to be agitated and disturbed; and do not permit yourselves to be fearful and intimidated and cowardly and unsettled.] John 14:27 Amplified Bible (AMP)

In the midst of it.... there is JESUS..

.I can tell you when Mollie saw me and felt my presence, she experienced peace... certainly she didn't fully understand it, but she knew she was safe and with that came relief.  Imagine how I felt when I reached her... 

JESUS just wants you to invite HIM to wherever you are locked in...