This story goes back a ways when we were travelers held hostage and no one could speak the language.
The tyrants spewed words at us like "goggin," "oohoo" and "nummies." The only vocabulary my husband, Bill, and I recognized was "Gwamma Wuzy" and "Poppa." Back then we knew it was going to be a long week alone with twin toddlers.
Naturally, there were some moments of understanding, although few and far between. For instance, when we drove past the golden arches and two voices from the backseat chorused "Ee-ai-ee-ai-oh!" we had a hunch that it had something to do with stopping for chicken nuggets. Or the moment they clasped their hands and bowed their heads, no one had to guess at the feelings behind garbled words that preceded an enthusiastic "amen."
But our greatest challenge was the day we tried to open a can of soup for lunch. Now at our house, this is simple. You take the container of chicken noodle and place it in the grip of the electric can opener.
But at their house we had a problem. Where was this common appliance that we assumed was in every typical household? After searching high and low, we finally asked Hunter and Hailey.
Yes, they could point to the drawer where the can opener was hidden inside. And yes, we could see that it had to be operated by hand even though we live in the 21st century. But we'd never seen one that looked quite like this gadget.
How on earth did this newfangled thing work?
Well, the 3-foot-tall geniuses thought they knew. So they proceeded to babble instructions in their unintelligible "twin talk," each adding their two cents ... louder and louder when Grandma and Grandpa couldn't get it right.
Amid their shrieks, we tried every which way to make the thingamajig work; sideways, upside down, left-handed until we were sure it was time for "Ee-ai-ee-ai-oh!" With tears streaming down our faces from either hysteria ... or joy at the thought of eating out ... we realized that we weren't equipped to handle this by ourselves.
We were totally in the dark, confused and struggling to make sense of our situation.
It was time to make a call to the one who could help; our daughter who had hightailed it from Washington state to Arizona and was basking in freedom from motherhood. Her military husband had left the scene months earlier, happily deployed.
While absentee Traci cradled the cell phone in one hand and applied suntan lotion with the other, she gently explained that yes, the "home party" can opener was a bit confusing and no, we weren't senile ... yet. Just bewildered over something new we'd never been up against before.
What a comfort to have a listening ear and an answer for our dilemma! With her instructions we finally understood how to operate the device. (The twins had been right all along.)
It's a fact that problems come in different sizes. Sometimes they're little ones, minor in the "big picture" and easily solved. Other times the difficulty is huge, overwhelming and more than we can bear. When life hands us a big one, we know that we need help from someone who can communicate the answers and has empathy to see us through.
In each situation, it turns out that God has an answer. One that we can understand.
Help may come from a caring friend who will listen, or a counselor who will advise. But in any circumstance we're facing, God has given us a resource that's available to us at any hour; a book that can provide insight and counsel.
It's the Bible.
His divine message in the scriptures addresses so many of the concerns we may have like loss, loneliness, fear and so much more. In its timeless pages, we can learn how to handle whatever situation confronts us.
Even though we may feel confused about an issue or concern, when we read this "instruction manual" he promises to help us figure it out (John 16:13). And when we are downhearted, he promises to be with us (Psalms 9:9-10).
So don't delay. Call on the one who has the answers. His name is Counselor and Comforter for a reason.
