I'd like to share a heartwarming story that happened in our home not long ago . . .
(See the glossary at the bottom for definitions of Hebrew terms.)
One of my sons has a fascination with sifrei Torah. He has two kid-sized Torahs, and we even made an Aron Kodesh to house them. He dons a tallis that he borrowed from my linen closet (otherwise known as a flat sheet), sets up a makeshift bima, and reads from the Torah. Sometimes he even calls up one of his brothers for an aliyah!
One of the basic foundations of Bitachon is that Hashem is good, and He wants to do good for His creations. In fact, God will benefit his creatures even if they are not deserving!
An attitude of gratitude complements this idea. We must be thankful for all that Hashem gives us. He is constantly showering us with wonderful things, and we must appreciate them.
Example:
Chani has been looking for a job for several months. She is highly qualified, but just can't seem to get an offer!
This week, we have another story awaiting your opinion. I am hoping that this time someone will comment (hint, hint!). Is this proper Bitachon, or is it not? It is much more fun as a discussion! As last time, I will express my opinion in the next post.
The weather was frigid as Molly stepped onto her porch. She braved the freezing winds for just a moment to bring her child to a friend across the street.
Suddenly, Molly noticed a spray of water gushing from her neighbor's garden pipe. The neighbor was away on vacation, and had forgotten to shut off the outdoor water line. The pipe froze and burst, spilling water everywhere.
One of the perks of having a blog about Bitachon is that people share their stories with me. What I love most is that the stories are from regular people like you and me about the usual kinds of things that happen to people like you and me.
The following story was told to me by my friend Rivkah. As soon as I heard it, I felt I could relate to it right away, and knew I wanted to tell it on The Bitachon Blog. She graciously allowed me to share her story with my readers.
Good parking spots are hard to come by at the train station. By leaving a bit earlier than other commuters, Rivkah is able to find a good parking spot on most days.
On this particular morning, however, Rivkah was running late.
Her boss had called with an emergency at 2 AM the night before. He told her to take her time in the morning, after the trouble he had caused in the night. But parking spots did not care how little you slept; they were just not available if you weren’t there early!
So Rivkah, tired and groggy, rolled out of bed, almost as bright and early as usual. On her way out the door, her sister called to ask about something important. Her schedule set back by a few more minutes now, she finally headed out.
As she was driving, Rivkah spotted an acquaintance walking to the station. She offered him a ride, which he gratefully accepted.
They arrived at the station and searched for a parking spot in the first lot. By this time, though, the lot was already full. Rivkah dropped off her passenger, and proceeded to the second lot to find somewhere to park her car.
She finally found an empty spot at the far end of the second lot. As she pulled in, she saw her train at the station. She quickly ran toward the train, hoping to squeeze in before the doors closed. Though she thought the conductor had seen her and waved her in, the doors slammed shut in her face as she arrived at the train.
I’ll bet you expected that she miraculously made the train after all, or the train crashed, or she had a life-changing experience on the next train.
Well, what really happened next was more spectacular than any of those!
Rivkah stepped back from the closed train doors and said to herself: “It is very clear that for some reason unknown to me, Hashem wanted me to miss this train! Everything that could have gone wrong - did. This was clearly orchestrated special for me - to miss the train!”
This is real Bitachon!
Stories that end happily ever after are beautiful and often inspirational. In those types of stories, the reason becomes very obvious. The real challenge is having a relaxed and accepting attitude even when there is no “happily ever after”.
Rivkah shared with me the secret of how she was able to react this way. She has been thinking about Bitachon ever since going to a class on the topic by Chevi Garfinkel, and also subscribes to The Bitachon Blog. When these sort of things happen, her reaction is a Bitachon reaction simply because of her Bitachon awareness!
Silly things - like missing the train - are a huge source of stress for many people. Though in hindsight they may seem inconsequential, in real time they can trigger strong emotions like anger, frustration, and even panic.
The key to remaining calm, cool, and collected is … Bitachon!
Even though I may not understand why things are happening or I would have wished for something different, I know that it’s all part of Hashem’s plan. Nothing happens by accident or by chance. My life, every little part of it, is tailor-made for me!
If you have a Bitachon success story, I would love to hear it!
