The following allegory is a break from my normal style of allegories. I wrote it on Remembrance Day (or Veterans Day as it is called in the USA). A day set aside to pause and remember the sacrifice of those who have fought for our freedom.

As we gathered around the breakfast table, my husband turned on a live stream of the Remembrance Day Ceremony happening in Ottawa. (TV at meal time is extremely rare for us, but what do you do when you are in a different time zone and your kids need to eat during a live event?)

This year, we had special interest in watching the preamble of the ceremony in Ottawa.

I glanced at the screen between spreading slices of bread for my kids and eating my own breakfast.

Suddenly, I pointed at a man on the screen chatting with two others, both of whom were smiling. “There he is! It’s Elmer Friesen!”

I grabbed my phone to snap a quick photo.

As the screen shifted to show other people, I turned to my daughter, “Do you remember Mr. Friesen? You know him.”

Elmer Friesen is a war veteran from World War II whom I have had the privilege of knowing since I was young. He is 103 years old now, but still sharp-minded and doing well for his age. He is a godly man and always has a cheery word to share.

As we continued to eat breakfast and watch the preamble, we listened to various veterans being interviewed and watched the soldiers marching to their positions for the ceremony.

Then they did it, they mentioned Elmer by name!

They shared a pre-recorded segment on his story before interviewing him in person.

His story goes something like this:

Elmer Friesen joined the Royal Canadian Air Force in the 1940s eager to serve. He really wanted to go overseas.

However, he was assigned a maintenance role in Canada.

After a year and a half of maintenance duty, his tendency to always be singing was noticed and he was recruited into the Royal Canadian Air Force entertainment group. Their mission? Raise the morale of civilians who were in the midst of wartime tensions.

They traveled around performing variety shows in Atlantic Canada.

Elmer never did get deployed overseas the way he had wanted. He served in the homeland.

When the interview ended, the reporters shared their thoughts regarding how a wide variety of duties are valuable, even the kind Elmer was assigned to.

How would I describe Elmer Friesen today? A man in whom the joy of the Lord is evident.  He seeks to share Jesus with those around him wherever he goes, and enjoys life along the way. One of his favorite hymns is Count Your Blessings.

Why do I share this?

Because I see an allegory here for me.

How many times have I wanted to be someone or do something God hasn’t called me to be or do?

How many times have I read an inspiring missionary or hero of the faith biography and said, “Here, Lord, send me?”

But no call came.

I love this quote from Elmer: “‘I really wanted to go overseas,’ he said. ‘But you go where you’re told, you go where you’re asked to serve.'” (Quote from: https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/article/alberta-veteran-103-recalls-war-service-spent-boosting-morale-at-home/ )

Elmer Friesen was a soldier. When you are a soldier, you do what you are told.

We too, as Christians, are instructed to live as soldiers seeking to please our commanding officer (2 Timothy 2:3-4).

We go where we are sent and stay there serving faithfully until we are called somewhere else.

Our commanding officer (God) has perfect foresight. He knows the big picture and He knows the intimate details of how He has created each of us.

God assigns to each of us a role. Each role is unique based on our talents and the big picture that only God can see.

(1 Corinthians 12 uses the body as an illustration of this. We are not all eyes or feet. The body is a functioning whole because each of us has been given our own role to play.)

Even if I have not been called to be in the “front lines” of Christian service, I can help support those who are. I can offer friendship, financial support, and, most importantly, prayer support.

One way to get in the habit of praying for missionaries and pastors, etc., is to collect a photo or prayer card from each person you want to pray for. Choose a meal that you are typically at home and not in a big rush – for my family this is supper, but for my grandparents, who taught me this habit, it was breakfast. Then everyday when you sit down to say grace for that meal, pull out the top photo and pray for them. Return that photo to the bottom of the stack to be prayed for again in a week or two.

How have you made it a habit to pray for missionaries? Let us know in the comments below.

Today, may I join with Elmer Friesen in willingly submitting to the role God has given me in this season.

As I do so, may my heart remember to count my many blessings (because there are so very many).

 

 

 

 

Here’s the clip related to Elmer Friesen from the CTV News coverage of the Ottawa 2025 Remembrance Day Ceremony. Here’s the link to the full 2 hour recording: https://www.youtube.com/live/L1JFjJGDIUw?si=Qeff4Zu3kv_juS1K

 

Link to a short article referencing Elmer’s story: https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/article/alberta-veteran-103-recalls-war-service-spent-boosting-morale-at-home/

 

 

The hymn: Count Your Blessings

“Can I push the stroller, Mommy?”

I looked down at my 2 year old daughter, then nodded. “Okay, but let me take your brother out first.”

I pulled my 6 month old out of the stroller, then adjusted the handlebars low enough for my daughter to reach.

“Try to stay on the path,” I said, stepping out of the way.

Eagerly, she gripped the handle and began pushing. Within a few feet, the stroller angled off the path.

She stopped.

I stopped behind her, then quickly stepped out of the way as she backed up until the stroller was on the path again.

Happily, she resumed pushing the stroller along the path.

Following along behind, I wasn’t concerned when I saw her heading off the side again. Our path was surrounded by flat grass, and nobody else was on the path to be crashed into.

Again, my daughter stopped, backed up to realign, then pushed forward.

When she veered off to the side again a few feet later, she again stopped, backed up, and pushed onward.

It was very slow, clumsy progress.

Eventually, as I watched this pattern repeat again and again, I clued in to the problem. My daughter couldn’t see over the top of the stroller. She was steering blind.

All she could see was where her feet stood on the sidewalk and perhaps half a step forward. This wasn’t enough to allow her to steer successfully.

Why bring this up?

So often in life, I am like my 2 year old daughter in the story above.

I cannot see where I am going beyond the very place where I am standing.

Sure, I can look down at where my feet are and perhaps see half a step forwards, but I have no idea if the path is about to turn or continue straight.

Thankfully, I know the One who can see, and He wants to help me. 

Sometimes, when I allow my daughter to push, I walk alongside the stroller with my hand on it. I direct where it goes. I keep it on the path for my daughter knowing she cannot.

God desires to do this for me. He wants to help me stay on the path. 

If I stubbornly refuse to do things His way, He will step back and let me try my hand at keeping my life on the path.

That never ends well.

Today, may I submit to God’s direction and ask Him to help me keep my life on the path. He will help me.

 

“Your Word is a lamp for my feet and a light on my path.” Psalm 119:105 CSB

“A person’s heart plans his way, but the Lord determines his steps.” Proverbs 16:9 CSB

My husband opened his office door at the end of another work-from-home day.

“Hello!” I gave him a hug, then stepped back. “You’re boiling.”

“It’s a sunny day,” he replied.

I stepped past him into the office. “It’s sweltering in here. I don’t know how you function.”

He shrugged. “My computer blacked out in the middle of a call again today.”

I glanced from the wide open window to the temperature sensor on the shelf. “31°C (88°F). There must be something we can do to make it better.”

“Daddy!” Our daughter ran towards him for a hug.

Our 1 year old toddled along behind.

“It’s time for supper,” I announced.

My husband glanced over the kids’ heads. “Yay. I’m hungry.”

Later that evening, as our fans hummed trying to bring the cooler evening air into our house, my mind wandered back to the challenge of the too-hot office. What could we do about it?

We had looked into air conditioning. Several of our neighbors had it. We went so far as getting quotes.

The extreme price tag for having air conditioning installed made us question whether it was worth it for us. Maybe there was something less costly we could try first?

In some locations, air conditioning, or other strategies for handling heat, is critical. Where I live, the outside temperature rarely passes 31°C (88°F), and the nights are always cooler. While air conditioning is a convenience, it is a luxury, not a necessity for me.

I was determined that there must be something more cost-effective we could try.

After some research, we came up with the idea of UV blocking window tinting film. It was far less expensive.

We ordered a roll.

When it arrived, my husband put it up with the help of our 3 year old, while I did my best to keep our 1 year old out of the way.

“Well, it’s up,” my husband called from the office.

I scooped up my 1 year old and crossed the hallway.

“Good,” I said, stepping into the room.

My husband was trying to rub the last few stubborn bubbles out of the tinting film.

My 1 year old wiggled to be put down. I hesitated, trying to decipher what had caught his attention.

He wanted the spray bottle my daughter had just put down.

I decided to let him down. He hadn’t figured out how to squirt spray bottles yet. Besides, the spray bottle was filled with water and a hint of dish soap – nothing too harmful.

I moved to inspect the tinted window more closely. The film hampered the view more than I’d hoped. The tree across the way looked blurry and was tinted blue.

“Definitely makes it harder to see out.” I commented, knowing how much my husband enjoyed having a window in his office. “If it’s too bothersome, you can take it off.”

“We can wait and see how much of a difference it makes.”

“Sounds like a good plan.” 

In the following days, it did seem that the tinting helped reduce the heat of the sunshine streaming into the office.

Why do I share this? Because a couple of weeks later, I found myself thinking of the hidden allegory in this story. It is a sober reminder for me.

If I think of the sunshine as Son-shine, or God at work in me, and of my life as a house, the allegory begins to form.

In the story above, I wanted to keep the warmth of the sunshine out of our house.

When I first thought of this allegory, I right away reasoned that this is the opposite of what’s true in our lives. We want God in our lives.

But do we?

What if there is a room in my life I have decided I would prefer to keep luke-warm? Have I put up a tinting film to keep much of God’s Sonshine out?

True, it can get uncomfortable when God focuses on an area of my life that needs to improve. It can hurt.

Yet the reward of peace and joy that follows when I fully surrender that area to God is so worth it. The fruit that comes is wonderful.

God wants all of me. He doesn’t want me holding back.

I am instructed to “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.'” (Luke 10:27 CSB)(Similar to Deut. 6:5)

Okay, that’s a very familiar verse. The question is, do I live it? If I am being honest with myself, do I love God this fully?

No. I need to keep growing in my love for God. I need to be asking God to help me clear those tinted windows to let His love and truth come in.

He will help me.