Just In Time

Strength, what is it and how does it come to us?  Many of us have experienced a time when we went through a difficult struggle or life crisis.  It might be the death of a family member, loss of a job, financial problems or the betrayal by someone we’ve trusted.  Whatever the circumstance, we survived!  But when we’ve had time to analyze what happened, we wonder, how did we do it?

One of my favorite heroines is Corrie ten Boom.  She was born and raised in the Netherlands in the city of Haarlem.  The daughter of a watchmaker, Casper ten Boom, she learned the craft from him and became the first woman licensed as a watchmaker in the Netherlands.  She and her family lived during the time of World War II, the Nazi invasion of the Netherlands and the capture of many Jews who were taken prisoner and sent to concentration camps.  Corrie and her family were Christians who were known for their help with the Resistance movement and the passage of many Jews to safe places. A   “safe room” was built in the top bedroom of the home, supplies brought in piece by piece, in brief cases or food sacks.  The room was complete with ventilation and heat.  Her book, The Hiding Place details the story and later a movie was made based on the book.

Before the war started, she would often travel with her father from their home to Amsterdam for supplies and materials for the watch repair business.  As they boarded the train, her father would give her a ticket for the train ride.  It was her responsibility to hand it to the conductor when he came through to punch the ticket.

After the family was betrayed by a Dutch informant and arrested for helping the Jews she had an opportunity to talk with her father before their transfer to separate camps.  She asked him, how she would have the strength to bear the ordeal that awaited them.  Her father reminded her of their trips to Amsterdam and asked her, “When did I give you the ticket for the trip?”  She thought and then replied, “Just before we boarded the train.”  Her father told her that’s how the strength she needed would come to her.  When the time came, the strength would come from God just as he, her father, had waited until time to board the train to give her the ticket.

If we stop and think about it, that’s how our strength comes to us.  At the very moment we wonder how we can go on, how we can make the decisions we have to make, to take the step into an unknown territory, IT comes to us from our inner source that we draw from.  It really doesn’t matter the name YOU call your Source.  It just matters that it’s there for you.  Even nonbelievers have that inner Source of strength.

Just believe, the Strength you need will be there for you when the time comes.  I know it has for me.

– Barbara Tubbs Hill / barbhill313@gmail.com / (256) 710-9713

Writer, counselor, perennial student and seeker of truth and spirit is an apt description for Barbara. Currently, Barbara is working on her first novel with two more planned for the future. Her first book, “Let’s Talk, What You Don’t Know About Credit Can Hurt You,” was written after fifteen years in a career than spanned collections, credit and mortgage lending. Barbara is glad to have been a part of getting the Indian Mound in Florence listed on the Alabama State Historical Register and soon the National Historical Registry. She lives in Florence AL with her husband Johnnie and two precious rescue dogs; Snookies and Daisy.

Cover Photo: Courtesy the Corrie ten Boom House Foundation

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