“Call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor me.” Psalm 50:15

Down in the Keys there is a bait and tackle shop named Captain Hook’s. It’s crammed full of… fishing ‘stuff’. Small signs can be seen on the walls, such as, “I’ve only got one nerve left, and you’re on it.” For some reason that came to mind as I was dealing with issues regarding my aging father, particularly the car. Maybe you can relate to this: we didn’t want him driving any longer. His eyesight is very bad and he has senile dementia. He was determined that he was going to keep driving. Only around town, of course, “Just to church, and the cemetery. Maybe the bank or grocery, but only in the daytime.”

By the third time we had to go to another city to pick him up, my patience began to run out. We learned that he’d been driving around for several hours and had no idea where he was. I don’t know who I was more worried about, him or the person he might hit. But I did know I was coming to the end of my rope.

Now, praying about all of this would have been wise. I’m sorry to say that I was trying to figure it out on my own. Often I’d picture the small poster of a kitten, hanging by its little paws on a clothesline, that was captioned, “Hang in there, baby.”

A popular saying advises, “When you get to the end of your rope, tie a knot in it.” It is best to go to the Lord first when we have problems. But when we don’t, all else fails and we’re at the end of our rope, it’s good to remember that the knot has a name: Jesus.

We finally did pray, turning my dad and the whole situation over to the Lord. Not long afterward, he decided to give the car up to someone very much in need of transportation.

Jesus is the best ‘knot’ name. Hopefully, however, I can remember to go to Him in prayer before I get that far next time.

Sally I. Kennedy boca7565@bellsouth.net Author of “52 Little Parables from Ireland” (Creation House Press) http://sallyikennedy.com