The God Of All Comfort

Remember the show “Bewitched” starring Elizabeth Montgomery which aired from 1964-1972?  Samantha (Montgomery) was a gorgeous blonde who falls in love and marries New York ad exec Darrin Stephens.  A match made in heaven, right?  Ah, no…

You see, after they got married Darrin finds out that Samantha is actually a powerful witch, and with just a twitch of her nose she can bring magic results.  Kind of tough for good old Darrin to believe, but then she proves it to him.  He’s shocked and makes her promise to not use her powers – if she’s to be his wife, she needs to be a normal suburban housewife, just like the other ladies in the neighborhood (remember – this was back in the ’60’s).

Well Samantha tries – she really does – but there are times she simply cannot resist using her supernatural powers.  Sometimes it’s just in a joking matter, but occasionally it’s not.

So where am I going with all this?

I’m going back to Jeffrey’s elementary school.  Because I still had not come out totally from my last outburst during the school conference (I’m Ready – Let Me at ‘Em!) – and my brain was going into overdrive.

It was nearing Halloween, and ever since I found out what Halloween was really about (a great article is on scholar John MacArthur’s website: Christians and Halloween), it has given me the eeby-jeebies.

Yes, as Christians we have nothing to fear because we’re children of God, but I still had my past I was dealing with – and anyone who says the things you go through when you’re young have no bearing when you’re older don’t know what they’re talking about!  Good or bad, the way we we’re raised and the things we experience when we’re young occasionally intertwines its way into our lives.

So I still was on guard with the school district, and when Halloween started peeking its head around the corner I was all of a sudden confronted with issues which reminded me of when I was a teenager and my best friend and her family were practicing witches (Fortunetellers, Witches & Other Strange Stuff).  I still to this day find myself remembering certain things I experienced back then, so Halloween, to me, was something I wanted to avoid, and I wanted Jeffrey to avoid it too – just in case!

One of Jeffrey’s teachers this year was a very pleasant young gal, but then one day I heard that she was reading Harry Potter books in some of her classes.  This might not bother some people, but it bothered me a lot.  I had read part of the first book that came out, and the vivid images that flew through my mind were not innocent, but were real.

So I approached this young teacher, and explained that I didn’t want Jeffrey to be included in the reading of this book series.  She was very kind, and said that was fine.

However as I continued to help out in one of her classes, we got to talking about our lives, and one day she informed me she had 3 cats, and she had named them all after famous witches.  She said it very innocently in a light hearted manner, but inside I was starting go freak.  Then I started noticing that she always wore black!  As my vivid imagination continued swirling, I could almost imagine her with a black-pointy hat such as Samantha wore in the opening credits of Bewitched!

Thankfully I had enough sense not to pull her to a side room and attempt an exorcism.  Instead I did the only thing I knew to do:  PRAY…

Because in the end, only God knows.  I prayed for her off-and-on the remaining couple of years she was at the school.  As the verse above states, we may think we know exactly where we’re going and what we’re doing, but as children of God, He alone directs our steps.

I went through what I went through as a teenager for reasons that I certainly don’t fully understand.  However it did make me aware that there is real evil in this world, and if – as Christians – we don’t stay alert and know the word of God (1 Peter 5:9-10), it can be easy to be led astray.

This young teacher – who knows?  Maybe she was just an innocent gal who thought it funny to name her cats after witches.  But I’m thinking that maybe the Lord placed her in our lives because of His merciful unending love.  I’d love to see her in heaven one day!