Who It's All About by Tami Cinquemani

My best friend is very loving and nurturing. She is the kind of person who “takes care” of others. Not long ago, her grandfather who lived in Tennessee passed away, and her grandmother, Nellie, moved down to Florida so that my friend and her mother could care for her. As is often the case in older couples who are very much in love and very dependent on each other, it wasn’t long before Nellie joined her husband in death. This was a very difficult time for my friend and her family.

Since it was their desire to be cremated, Grandma and Grandpa soon found a place together in a beautiful urn on the fireplace mantle of their daughter’s home. However, it was always understood that this would be a temporary home as Grandma and Grandpa’s real home was in Tennessee. Therefore, a trip was planned to bring the urn with the ashes up to Tennessee for a memorial service and burial.

Soon the entire family – children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren – piled into their vehicles and headed up to the homestead in Tennessee. Several hours after their trip began, I received a very unexpected call from my friend. “Tami,” she said, “we forgot Grandma and Grandpa!”

Sure enough, in the midst of planning the memorial service, packing for the trip, and consoling each other in their loss, the beautiful urn that held the precious remains was still in Florida safely set on the fireplace mantle.

My friend’s family has a wonderful sense of humor, and my friend and I have often laughed about this experience. Who would spend countless time in preparation, energy and effort to make sure everything was “just right,” only to forget the main reason for the entire event?

I’m afraid I do that quite often. As the Worship Director for the Florida Hospital Church, I spend countless hours in service planning committees, website searches for scripts and videos, meetings with our Minister of Music and Technical Director, reading books on authentic and inspirational worship, and computer time planning each worship event down to the minute. And sometimes it’s very easy to forget who it’s all about.

You may well wonder whatever happened to Grandma and Grandpa. Did they ever make it to their service and find their final resting place? Well, with careful packaging and a lot of bubble-wrap, they took a guaranteed overnight trip and arrived in time. In the process, I learned a valuable lesson in the legality of shipping human remains – but that’s a story for another day.

Tami Cinquemani

The First Line of Defense by Andy McDonald

What is your first line of defense? Following 9/11, there were arguments about what our nation’s “first line of defense” should be.

The military, intelligence agencies, securing the airports, better border patrol, or tighter immigration standards—which ought to be our first line of defense? The arguments still continue.

What about us? What about when we’re faced with minor or major challenges or even crisis? What is our first line of defense?

I was sitting in the Juror selection holding area for Orange County, waiting to do Jury Duty when my left ear, all of a sudden just started to ache. As soon as I was dismissed, my first line of defense was to put some old antibiotic drops in my ear, take a couple of aspirins, and if worse, I’d call my doctor in the morning. After much misery, I finally called a doctor friend who got me on antibiotics and prescribed a new dose of ear drops.

My first line of defense was self-treatment—then drugs! Looking back I wondered, “Where was God in my line of defense?” I didn’t call the church to come and pray, that wasn’t my first line of defense. WHY NOT?

Jesus was tired and ready for a break from the people, so he got in the boat with his disciples and headed to the other side of the lake. It was only a matter of minutes aboard the gently rocking boat, with the sound of water splashing against the boat, and Jesus was asleep.

Shortly after sunset the weather changed. Down from the surrounding hills wind rushed upon the lake. Dark storm clouds filled the sky. These seasoned boatmen prepared for the storm like they had many times before. They dropped their sail, turned the boat to face the waves, battened things down that might fly off the boat, got the bailing equipment ready in case some water might splash aboard, and they began to row for shore. Collectively these actions were their first line of defense.

But the storm was beyond their ability. All their resources weren’t enough to do battle with this storm. They were at the sinking point when they called out, “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!” Jesus was - and still is - familiar with being the last resort instead of the first line of defense.

Jesus was able to sleep in the storm because of his faith in God’s love and care—his Father was his first line of defense. Jesus said, “By myself I can do nothing.”

Every day challenges force us to choose some first line of defense. What is your first line of defense? And what relation to that choice is determined by who you’ve chosen as master. We can’t choose ourselves and God both as our first line of defense. Both can’t be our first line of defense. Only one can be first. Which will we choose?

Andy McDonald