Trusting God with the Future
As I have mentioned before, for many years our son John has honored Ray’s dad with his performances of One Soldier’s Story, in which he dresses in his grandfather’s uniform and tells his World War II story in first person.
Little did Ray’s grandparents, Earl and Maggie Notgrass, know when they welcomed their only child in 1915 . . .
Earl Eugene, Maggie Pearl, and Wesley Notgrass, 1915
. . . that three years later Maggie would make her boy a little soldier’s uniform to wear when returning World War I soldiers marched in downtown Columbia, Tennessee, or that their precious boy would spend “four years, one month, and seven days” (as he told us often) serving in World War II.
Sergeant Wesley Notgrass
Ray and I didn’t know when we welcomed our son . . .
John Notgrass
. . . that he would someday portray his Granddaddy Wes.
John has a fascinating story to tell. Because he tells it, he gets to hear fascinating stories, too. After one performance, a man of 92 shared his own World War II story. I will call him Robert. Robert was stationed at Pearl Harbor in December of 1941. On Saturday, December 6, he began making preparations to attend a church service the following morning on the USS Arizona; but before the time came to go to the service, Robert’s ship was ordered to go on a training exercise in the Pacific. Because of this exercise, his ship was away from port on Sunday, December 7, and was unharmed when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. Japanese bombs did sink the Arizona, killing 1,177 crew members.
USS Arizona, at the height of its fire,
after the Japanese aerial attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, December 7, 1941,
courtesy of the Library of Congress.
Robert served as an orderly for the admiral of the ship on which he served. Therefore, it was Robert who delivered the message to the admiral about what happened that morning at Pearl Harbor.
We can and should teach our children valuable lessons from the past. We cannot know the future, but we can trust the One Who does.
Rejoice in the Lord always;
again I will say, rejoice!
Let your gentle spirit be known to all men.
The Lord is near.
Be anxious for nothing, but in everything
by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving
let your requests be made known to God.
And the peace of God,
which surpasses all comprehension,
will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:4-7