Then he (Jesus) said: I promise you this. If you don’t change and become like a child….Matthew 18:3 NASB

We stopped acting childlike, having grown comfortable in the routines of daily life vacationing in Italy. Today is a national holiday and everyone celebrates by eating out with family and friends. It dawned on me this morning that we should have booked a table for lunch somewhere, so we cast ourselves on Jesus and asked for help. I texted a local restaurant we had tried last Sunday. By grace they worked it out so we could enjoy a special four-course lunch in honor of ‘Feragosto’ and the ‘Assumption of  Mary’. We prayed for safety on the drive down the mountain and back up.  The Lord was gracious. Watching the ‘theater’ of Italian families laughing, chatting and savoring the cuisine entertained us.

After changing into workout clothes, we hopped in the car again, to walk along the river down in the valley. We cheerfully set off down the narrow lanes with blind hairpin turns, content and confident that we were getting the hang of these Italian roads. 

That’s when the trouble started. ‘Mr. Italian GPS’ routed us wrong. Harsh words emerged from my frustrated driving husband   and we ‘almost’ succumbed to disharmony among us. God be praised that we recognized our error.  We had forgotten that we are but little children who need our Daddy. We had not asked for His help. Obviously we didn’t think we needed Him. 

I’m so glad the Father brought us up short right away.  We immediately confessed our false independence and ran back to Him, asking for protection and help.  The enemy tried once more after the walk to mess with us in the car. This quirky rental car does the strangest things. Recognizing another probe from the enemy, we rebuked him and clung to Jesus.