Motherhood, for me, has been one wild ride.
I've been on this ride for 25 years and mostly it's been fun and has taken me to places I would never have otherwise gone. An adventure all-around--one which whips your hair back because it usually zooms by fast.
But a few days I wanted to shout, "Hey Mister! Stop this thing so I can get off awhile!," so that I could rest and even run away for a week, but you can't get off-- not like that. So you choose to change the way you respond to the dashing in and out on this wild ride.
You change the way you see and the way you feel about it.
And yet the ride, itself, changes, too. The years stretch the track out into new territory and you grow with the new experiences. Because, again, you can't get off when it feels uncomfortable. You discover that you, too, must stretch.
The ride takes you to places only mothers can go. You meet others who understand where you have been: you see the ride reflected in their eyes. You meet others who've traveled where you're going and they help prepare you for what you will see.
There is no other ride like this one.
I wouldn't have missed it for anything.
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Happy Mother's Day to all my readers!
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I dig in my garden and stop when the sirens sail and wail down the street at the end of my own--and I pray. Every time I pray for those who are in trouble, that they will be helped and healed and will come to know Jesus--they and all their relatives, too.
And, also, I pray for the heroes.
This is what I began to do when Naomi first learned to drive. She'd leave the house in our car and nearly always, within minutes, I'd hear sirens and at first? Oh my, I'd worry every time. "Was Naomi involved in an accident?" I'd ask.
Sheesh, that happened again and again. Eventually (because I'm slow), I surmised this was another test--and I was failing.
That's when I began turning my worries into prayers.
I'd pray for whoever had been hurt; that they'd recover, come to know Jesus, they and their relatives. Also, I prayed for the firefighters' safety and of course, that Naomi wasn't the one who'd been hurt.
Eight years ago that began. Twice a day or sometimes six, but whenever I'd hear them--I pray. And still do.
Who knows? Maybe in Heaven strangers will greet me, ones I prayed for without having known their names. Strangers I prayed for every time I heard the sirens wail.
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Do you pray siren prayers, too? I'm just curious.
You have to be brave to be a real Christian nowadays and I don't see it getting any easier in the future, either.
Of course, the real courage to live this different life comes from God, Himself. And yet it takes a brave decision on our part, also, to see this thing through.
One of the hardest things I've faced? Being misunderstood. Of doing something exactly the way I believed God wanted, and then having people criticize what I've done (or said or written). But that's all part of The Plan--can I do what God asks me to, even if it means standing alone (peoplewise) when I'm finished?
Sometimes, yes. Other times, no.
All great Christians throughout history made courageous (usually unpopular) choices and we still read about them today. They didn't take obnoxious stances just for the sake of rattling a few cages, but made choices out of direct obedience to God.
Almost never do we hear about Christians who tried to blend into this world. The ones who held onto their 'Rights' to say whatever they want to say, whenever they want to say it. To do whatever they want, however they want, whenever they want. To watch, read or listen to whatever they want or to snarl and bite when wounded.
No, usually the Christians we admire most were the ones totally sold-out to God. They did only what He wanted, even though they probably pushed past a lot of fear. And said only what He wanted them to say (then hushed when they still wanted to say more. And went only where God asked them to go (and always left it a better place, meaning it wasn't a great situation when they first arrived.
Sometimes when I'm feeling uneasiness or peace-less, I wonder if it's because I'm suffering from a case of 'the blends' -- too much of being like everyone else.
Always, what stands out is passionate dedication and purity.
Those two things can never blend in--that's an impossibility in this world. They'll always shine bright and often, alone.
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"When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus." ...Acts 4:13
"Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world." ... James 1:27
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