The Broken Wand

My husband retired from his career four years ago.
He loved his job; he was and is highly respected in his field.
He always said he would retire after forty years.
However, no one knows what the other side of retirement holds.

Literally, on the day of his retirement, he received his first request to consult in his industry.
He told me about it and I was very excited for him.
We went out to dinner that night to celebrate his retirement.
His surprise party happened a month later.

That first phone call turned in to many other requests from various companies.
He is thoroughly enjoying his consulting work.
He loves working from his office at home; closing his glass-paned doors during phone calls.
I am so thankful that he is still vitally involved in his industry.

We have a rhythm to our days.
I am often out and about; however, many days we have lunch together.
We always have dinner together.
After forty years of being home without him each day, there was a learning curve for both of us.

I am aware of his schedule, since we go over our calendars together.
I will not vacuum if I know he is on a phone call.
I will wave to him through the office doors when I head out.
We are used to the busyness of his work, though he is right here each day.

That rhythm becomes a bit different when grandchildren are here.
The beauty of his consulting work is that he can arrange his schedule.
We can go to grandparents day at school.
We can watch our younger grandchildren when our daughter has to help in a classroom.

We just had two of our granddaughters here for five days.
They are now big sisters to their precious little sister who was born almost two weeks ago.
We picked them up and brought them here so their mommy and daddy could rest.
It is a joy to have them here; they love it just as much as we do.

My six-year-old granddaughter has a little purse that she carries everywhere.
I gave it to her last Christmas and she keeps all of her treasures in it.
She showed me what was inside her purse and I just smiled.
An UNO card, a pretend bottle of nailpolish, little books that fit in her hand, and so much more.

You’re just like your daddy, I told her.
Why, Grandma? She asked really wanting to know.
Because your daddy would always come home with things in his pockets, I remembered.
I always had to check his pockets before I did the laundry, I said laughing.

It was true.
My son’s pockets would have a broken pencil, a penny, a paperclip, or a  broken eraser.
Whatever he would find, somehow ended up in his jean pockets.
She smiled and seemed to be satisfied with the comparison.

She came to me with a small gold wand that had a star on the top.
It was also in her purse.
Somehow, the wand broke.
She was holding the two pieces in her hand.

I want to ask Pop-Pop to fix it, she said as she was walking towards his office.
I knew that his office doors were closed and a phone call was going to be happening quite soon.
Pop-Pop is going to be on the phone, sweetheart; perhaps you can wait until later.
Oh, he’ll listen to me, she said as she walked confidently to the office doors.

I saw her stand outside the glass-paned doors.
I saw her holding the two pieces of her small wand in her hands.
I soon heard the door open and my husband talking to her.
Pop-Pop, can you fix this for me? She said without a hint of hesitation.

Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.  (Hebrews 4:16)

I thought of my granddaughter saying, Oh, he’ll listen to me.
She knows that her Pop-Pop is available to her.
She knows that she has total access to him.
That surety gives her confidence to approach him with her request.

God the Father wants us to come to Him in prayer and lay our requests before Him.
In Christ, we have total access to the Father.
He listens to us and delights in hearing the calls of His children.
We can walk confidently to Him and talk to Him without fear.

My husband took the two pieces of the wand and brought them to his office.
After his phone call, he went right down to his workshop and fixed the broken wand.
Later that night, after the girls were in bed, he brought the repaired wand upstairs.
She will be so excited, I said to my husband.

She was thrilled when she saw it waiting for her the next day.
Oh, thank you, Pop-Pop. she said so sweetly to him.
Pop-Pop can fix anything, she announced.
He can and he does.