Why do I exist? What am I here for? Isn’t that one of the most prominent questions of all time? For us believers, it’s more like: What do you want me to do God? God speak to me, say something, anything… Please? Just let me hear your voice. Well, I was speaking on this subject a while back and was searching for biblical back up and a certain story spoke deeply to me. It’s in 1st Kings chapter 19. Elijah is running from the King b/c he’s scared (a whole lesson in itself – after all he’d seen he was scared of a threat from a mortal king) and God sends him to a cave (another lesson – he traveled 40 days and night without cease) and there God says “I will reveal myself to you”; then a mighty wind comes and causes landslides (like a tornado) and then there’s an earthquake, a cave is not the ideal place to be in an earthquake. Finally a raging fire comes… but God was not in any of these. THEN there was a quiet whisper, and in that whisper was such a power that Elijah falls to his knees and covers his face. (Read through this story, there is so much to it)
The point is… all the so called “acts of god” we talk about, God is not in them. He speaks to us most often in a quiet whisper. He’s a gentle God, and he follows this pattern in the way he shows us our purpose as well. In fact it’s even possible to fulfill your purpose in life without even knowing it. You may have been created for one moment in time when you happen to have bumped into someone, making them drop the paperwork they were holding, and thereby lose the phone number of the guy they’d just met oh so romantically. The guy that would have happened to totally ruin their life. Who knows, right? Though don’t we want to do more than just that? Don’t we want to be the hero; the one that God couldn’t do without.
In America if you’re nothing but a mom, even if you’re a really good mom, you’re looked upon as something less; almost wasted space. It would be easy to catch that attitude toward yourself as well, I almost did. I didn’t want to be so busy lovingly caring for my son that I couldn’t do all the other things I’d filled my life with before. Well, I met a women some time ago who wanted a big family with lots of children. She was so sure she was going to not only have said children, but also home school all these children that when she was a just a teenager she bought all the books in the local library when it closed. Skip ahead many years and life is going good, she is now happily married and has one young son and another on the way. Her baby boy is already showing signs of genius, he’s all she could have hope for, and she’s prepared to become the teacher of her hearts desires. Then due to many misunderstandings and quite a few betrayals, her husband loses his good steady job and they move from their big sprawling, shiningly beautiful city, to the boondocks of the Midwest. There were many hard years after that, though the worst came towards the end of her 6th child’s pregnancy. Their landlord told them that 6 children was more than could legally live in the house and they had to move by the end of the month. So, seven months pregnant, with five small children in tow, she packed and moved to an old trailer that a friend owned. It was more of a junk yard than anything, with a giant gaping hole in the middle of the kitchen floor, and piles of heaped trash outside. But it kept out the rain, mostly, and the cold, sometimes. There was often no running water, and the electricity was quite finicky about when it wanted to work. The plastic over the window frames was pulled tight enough you could see out as if it were a real window. And though she fretted quietly, her children were happy and had not a clue of the lengths their parents went to in order to feed and clothe them. Still she taught them at home, and even the trips to the grocery store were used as lessons. In time God brought them to a better house, and provided all they needed. But through these trials – and many more - She showed her children how to have faith, twice she told tornado’s they could not harm her or her family and they simply jumped over her little house, because they knew they could not stand against her God. She showed her children to be generous, for even though she had next to nothing she would always care for the neighbor children, and even secretly got a warm coat for a man she saw shivering while walking to work in the snow. She taught her children to take care of themselves… not one depends on the microwave for sustenance. She taught them to be bold, and defend what they believe. She taught them to know why they believe what they do. Her Husband taught many things as well, he taught them to know right and wrong. As well as to have confidence in who they are. And to do right for love’s sake instead of for the law. He taught them to always ask questions, for that is how one learns. And he taught them about grace, about what a difference a hug can make. Between the two, they created souls hungry for truth, willing to ask, to search out what God wants for them. Bold enough to tell the nations of they hope they’ve found. Of her seven children, four are now on the mission field in various third world countries. One is attending college so she can join us later. One is only 13 and yearns to teach God’s word too. And one has got 2 wonderful children of his own, and will soon probably be a military man.
She may never set foot in Africa or Thailand, or any of the other places her offspring land. But her life’s work is helping to change the world. Mother is such a powerful word. I only hope I can live up to the standards you set mom. I like it when the bar is high, when it’s a challenge. All of my experiences were preparing me for this time now…
Thank you mom.
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